


The Things We Left Unsaid

by Secret_Seeker



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Eleven likes to occasionally visit, F/M, Mostly Nine and Ten, Rose is the Master, Series 1-4, The Master is fobwatched
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-04-05 09:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14040882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secret_Seeker/pseuds/Secret_Seeker
Summary: In which The Master wakes up in Powell Estate as a young Rose Tyler and decides to once again use the Chameleon Arch. Series 1-2 The Master is Fobwatched, series 3-4 The Master generally causes chaos and falls in love with her sworn enemy."I would trade eternity for a single kiss from you, though it would surely damn me." The Doctor whispered softly."What do you know of damnation?" She scoffed."I know you."





	1. A Girl...How Inappropriate

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by 'A Rose By Any Other Name'  
> I really loved the idea of rose being the master, so I thought I'd write a fic about it.  
> Series 1-2 will be an oblivious Fobwatched Master as Rose Tyler, series 3-4 will have Rose return from the parallel world as The Master and alter the events leading up to and after the Valiant.  
> AU where The Master met Rose on the Valiant, as she is still travelling with The Doctor

It’s raining. That’s the first thing that the Master notices, as he stirs groggily. Sleepily he wipes the moisture from his face with a careless flick of his hand. _Where am I?_ Eyes now snapping open, it registers that it is night time; the stars are dimmed by the heavy fog rolling past. _Stupid apes, they don’t need me to kill them. They’re already poisoning their own planet._ His time responses kick in sluggishly, his concentration fights the relentless pounding of The Drums, connections snap into place linking him to this timeline he finds himself in. _Late_ _20 th Century London, it could be worse. _His back aches dully from lying on the hard pavement, he assesses his surroundings critically, the dingy Estate flats surrounding him were lit by garish orange street lamps.

_The question is, how did I get here?_

The last thing he could recall was dying. He smirked slightly at the memory of the utter devastation across the Doctor’s face as _he_ had begged him to live. As if he would ever willingly be kept in that fool’s TARDIS like the strays he kept collecting and losing. _Was it really necessary for him to sob and spit all over my face like that?_ He never knew that dying could be so satisfying.

His fingers idly tapped against his leg, _da da day dum…da da day dum…_

Well, he couldn’t stand here all day on a street corner. He frowned as he took in the sight of a parked car, it was awfully large. Snickering softly, _humans and their competitive technologies._ If he was correct, which of course he always was, this was a number of years before his election, over a decade.

Casting his mind back he could remember the contingency plans he had in place, this surely couldn’t have been the result of his resurrection ritual, where were his followers? If he had been resurrected like he’d planned then he wouldn’t have been left out in the streets like common vermin. Glancing at his hands he noticed his ring missing. If he hadn’t been so occupied by his alarming relocation and sudden return to life, perhaps he might have pondered on why his hands had seemed so much smaller. There was a welling, sick feeling of dread; _surely this can’t have anything to do with the Doctor, he saw me die for Rassilon’s sake!_

And now he was stranded on Earth of all places. Frantically searching his pockets he snarled, noticing the absence of his laser screwdriver. Someone was messing with him, they had to be. All that he could find was a pocket watch. A look of distaste crossed his face; a fingernail traced the concentric circles of his name, etched into the metal. All of time and space and all he had was a chameleon arch. _I suppose I’ve faced worse odds than this._

 _Just after I’d made such a nice little life for myself as well, now I have to start from the beginning._ He contemplated running for office again; maybe he should be less subtle this time and destroy this thrice-damned rock. At the very least he had his telepathy, he could be very _convincing_ when he had to be, human minds were so simplistic, no natural barriers to intrusions, mindless cattle. Of course, the Doctor was never particularly talented with that domain, requiring touch to establish a link, what a feeble Timelord. Then again, he probably justified his lack of using that skill as a desire not to violate the delicate companions with their fragile minds. Perhaps if he had kept sweet little Lucy under control things might be different _. How could the Doctor stand being surrounded by the little beasts all of the time_ , he had felt the need to sanitise himself after touching his little wife. And the Doctor had had three of them, aboard _his_ Valiant, the Freak, the spawn of his servants and his little blonde girlfriend. At least the last of them was mildly impressive, not just anyone could absorb the time vortex and live. The TARDIS’ archives were most enlightening.

His musing was cut short by the sound of whistling, a jaunty tune cut through the silent street corner. He stiffened immediately, sneering at the sight of a youngish man dressed in tweed with a bow tie and suspenders. The rain had plastered his brunet hair to his face. The stranger’s eyes lit up when he took in the sight of the Master, his pace slowed and he stopped in front of him, curiosity and amusement tinged his expression.

“Hello there, it’s a nice night for chess don’t you think?”

The Master blinked, thrown at the absurdity of the man’s statement.

“You don’t think so?” His arms flailed around in long sweeping gestures as he grinned manically.

“I have better things to do than play games.” The Master cleared his throat, somewhat alarmed by how high his voice had sounded, rubbing at his neck nervously.

The stranger just chuckled, he was quite tall the Master noted absently.  The man ran his fingers through his hair so it stood on end, “Ah well, I’m used to playing games. I suppose you should be getting home, your Mum must be worried.”

“Excuse me!” This ape didn’t only get dressed in the dark, he was also exceedingly slow.

A large hand patted his head fondly as he shifted his weight from foot to foot as if he couldn’t bear standing still in one place. “A little girl like you in a big city at night, anything could happen, you’d best pop off home.”

Horror raced down the Master’s spine as an icy chill. The stranger wasn’t especially tall, nor were the cars. He turned desperately, catching a glimpse of himself in the reflection of a car window. His first thought was that there must be someone behind him; there was no way that the reflection of the tiny blonde girl belonged to him, his head twisting around in vain.  He tugged at a damp lock of hair incredulously, he was a child!

How had this happened? He had refused to regenerate, why was he in the form of a young girl. Nothing seemed to be making sense. He leaned forward off the curb, scrutinising his, _or should I say her,_ appearance more closely, there was something almost familiar about those set of features, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

 _Oh, I just had to be female…and blonde too._ He screwed up his face and stuck his tongue out childishly at his reflection. It was almost unheard of to regenerate into such a young form, there had to be more to it.

“My, my we are vain aren’t we?” The stranger murmured from behind. He Master jumped back from the car, watching him warily. He may be a Timelord but this human was physically larger, he could easily overpower him.

“Piss off.” He retorted. Not particularly witty but he was quite distracted.

The stranger’s smile turned condescending, not in the least offended as he fiddled with his maroon bow tie. “Such foul language from one so young.” He seemed to be circling him; his head tilted with an intent look in his eyes. “Come to think of it I think I recognise you, you’re Jackie Tyler’s little girl, right?”

Jackie Tyler. The Master racked his frankly glorious mind, where had he heard that name before?

_Oh. No…it couldn’t be._

He had conducted a thorough background check of all of the Doctor’s companions, the Freak’s crew had been lead a merry dance away from London, he had kept the Jones Girl’s family…but then there was Rose Tyler. The girl without friends or family, all reported dead at the Battle of Canary Wharf, herself included, there was no one to use as leverage against her. Yet she had been the one to undermine his plans, had rescued the Doctor. The one who had caused the Doctor’s eyes to fill with sickening emotion. There was no way he could possibly be her.

“Rose…Tyler…” he tested the name on his tongue, her tongue, this new tongue. The tongue to which this saccharine voice belonged. The first thing that came to mind was possession but he dismissed it just as quickly, there was no remaining presence, nothing fighting back. Pressing a hand to his chest, he was relieved to feel the double thump of his hearts. _Definitely my body then._

“That’s right!” The stranger responded brightly, “Jackie Tyler, she must be worried sick about you, I’ll walk you home shall I?”

The ape was beginning to grate on his nerves. Looking directly into unblinking verdant eyes, he fought past the drums connecting the activity in his highly developed pre-frontal cortex into the mind of the oblivious stranger. “You want to walk away and forget about meeting me.”

The stranger frowned, “That’s not very nice, I’m only trying to help.”

Scowling he tried again with no success, leaving a bemused human staring at him oddly. _Of course, not only do I have the body of a child, I have the mental abilities of one too._ He felt distinctly uneasy as he began to realise just how helpless he was in this form, all of his age and intelligence was moot, no one would take a child seriously, there wasn’t even any way to compel them telepathically.

Exasperated, the Master followed the stranger to the front door of a set of flats, he had babbled continuously as he led her down the street. He had refused point blank to hold this man’s hand when he had offered.

“There we are, the residence of Jackie and Rose Tyler.” He pressed the button of the correct flat and hopped off the front step, giving an exaggerated bow. “Until next time.”

For the first time, the Master began to wonder if there was something more to him than just an oblivious ape, what if he was one of the Doctor’s friends, he did act overly familiar with him. Although chances were slim that any associate of the Doctor would desire to interact with him in a positive manner.

“Who are you?” he asked with suspicion, and a touch of dismay at how unintimidating he now sounded.

The stranger had already begun to walk away, his whistling starting up once again. “Just a friend…good luck Rose Tyler.”

A somewhat hysterical woman began to screech through the intercom, high pitched versions of his new designation were yelled for the entire dead street to hear.

\-----

The Master lay in his bed scowling angrily at the ceiling. Jackie Tyler had completely refused to listen to any of his excuses, had fed him something she referred to as ‘Shepherd’s Pie’ he wondered about what poor person she had massacred to create that atrocity on his plate.  Sneaking out of bed he found the door was locked. _Damn it all, who knew how insane female humans were as a species._ The woman had been overly touchy-feely with him in ascertaining his wellbeing, flustered about ‘poor Rosie’ catching a cold. _How could humans live like this?_ Back on Gallifrey mother’s were respectfully detached and wouldn’t be seen dead coddling a child to such a disgusting extent.

Such tiny hands, such a frail body. Who would guess the pure genius such a form could house. The Master attempted to focus on the timeline of ‘Rose Tyler’ before being forcefully thrown from his meditative state by an unknown power. Something was keeping him from accessing this girl’s timelines, his own timeline. He was facing his future blindly. He was reluctant to wait until his mental abilities developed enough for him to truly make an impact on this world, he had nothing here. The prospect of _waiting,_ of _growing up_ was entirely unappealing. Yet he knew if he could wait long enough he would run into the Doctor, just as Rose Tyler must have before him.

It was then that the Master was struck by a stroke of genius. He would become Rose Tyler. Actually become her.

He could remember how attached the two of them were on The Valiant. He would make the Doctor care about him, this fragile pink and yellow little body…and then he would rip his heart out.

He didn’t like his chances of fooling the Doctor of his innocence for an extended period of time. Surely his patience would run thin putting up with his excessive antics. _No, the Rose Tyler the Doctor meets has to genuinely like him. Not even I could stomach that for so long._ He began to thumb the chameleon arch in his pocket. _Nor do I like the chances of using this, the last time I became human I stayed human for a very long time, Professor Yana was old and weak, I don’t want to be stuck as the Doctor’s human companion indefinitely, just long enough that my betrayal would break him._

There was no guarantee if he used the chameleon arch that he would even cross paths with the Doctor. He was making a lot of assumptions that his life would line up with the experiences of Rose Tyler. The TARDIS had a lot of information about her, records dating back to 2005 when she joined the Timelord. The Master had to assume that somehow the Rose Tyler he had met in the future was an iteration of himself; it was the only explanation for possessing the same body as her. Albeit a much younger body. In which case it meant that he himself had sabotaged The Valiant as Rose Tyler. _No doubt, I must have been stuck as a human._

It was a difficult decision to make. He could wait out the Doctor with the risk of being found out or become a human with the risk of staying a stinking ape until death and interfering in his own past. Whatever he decided Rose Tyler would unwillingly become his future in some capacity.

_But it would be worth the risk. He feels it too, the loneliness. What if I were to take away his happiness, his precious girlfriend. I have the right, it is my body, after all, I have the right to be this ‘Rose Tyler.’ Let him feel betrayal, just as I have been betrayed by him. The Doctor could have his Rose Tyler, but I will use that to destroy him._

The Master opened the Fob watch; he had made adjustments to it before he had created the fiction of Professor Yana. Additional equipment to make himself human was too cumbersome; he had been fleeing for his life, fleeing from The Time War. With his considerable intellect, he had managed to compact all of the necessary equipment to create ‘Rose Tyler’ within the watch itself. All he had to do was touch the clock face and mentally construct his idea of ‘Rose Tyler’ and the detachable probe would allow him to exchange his essence into the timepiece. There were other adjustments he’d made to the perception filter which had unfortunately been damaged during his time as Professor Yana. The dial on the side of the watch allowed him to set a time when the perception filter would fall and his human self would open the watch. There was always the risk that his human self could lose it or refrain from opening it even without the filter. He decided to set the watch for the date of his twenty-first birthday.

There was one last thing bothering him. Why did Jackie Tyler recognise him as her child? He had needed to implement extensive work to establish Harold Saxon as a real person. This ape had clearly not given birth to him, a great Timelord of Gallifrey and she was deluded that this regeneration of his was her daughter. Perhaps he was caught in some Transdimensional anomaly, replacing the space that Rose Tyler fit on the space-time continuum.  Perhaps Rose Tyler was dead and his regenerated form just happened to look astonishingly similar to her. Or maybe…he was sincerely hoping he was wrong here…maybe he regenerated into Rose Tyler and someone else was creating a paper trail of memories for him, establishing his existence on Earth. _What reason would anyone have to do that?_

\-----

The Master had to battle down the waves of disgust that threatened to engulf him. The thought of once again being trapped in the flesh and insipid mind of an ape was repulsive. _The sacrifices I make for you Doctor, he thought wryly._ In the end, it would be worth it, if he followed the timeline along he would surely see his death on The Valiant and work out how he came to be on Earth in the body of a child; and best of all he would be able to break the Doctor.

 _I wonder how the Doctor would react if sweet little Rose Tyler burnt his favourite planet and murdered his companions._ The drums echoed hungrily in his mind, egging him on, _da da day dum…_

With that comforting thought in mind, the Master attached the probe to his left temple, linking it to the watch. With the lingering flash of gold and muffled cry of pain, he was the Master no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the events of Rose


	2. Rose: A Bit Familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master is now Rose Tyler, she meets the Doctor.

Rose sighed. Why was it always her that had to run around and do jobs for everyone else? She glanced ruefully down at the envelope of lottery money as she made her way to the store basement. _I should never have quite College to hang out with a tosser like Jimmy Stone._ “Wilson.” She called out half-heartedly. When there was no response Rose frowned slightly. “Wilson, I have the lottery money.” _Jeez, do I have to do everything._ She marched forward angrily, hammering on his office door. “Wilson, are you there?”  She flicked her phone open, she had about two minutes before Henrick’s closed.

Rose started at the clattering noise further down the corridor. The lights flickered, filling her with apprehension. The door slammed loudly behind her. Attempting to wrench it open she cursed when it wouldn’t give. “Seriously Wilson, this isn’t funny.” _Oh yey, its let’s pick on the new girl day._ A shuffling sound snapped her out of her cursing, her eyes widened at the sight of a shop dummy in a checked shirt, stiffly shambling towards her. “Ha ha, very funny,” She called out into the darkened corridor sarcastically, “If you would be so kind to grow up, I’d be real grateful.” The closer the dummy came the more Rose scooted back, this was beyond a joke now. More dummies stirred from their respective places, propped up against the wall. “Derek, is that you? Why do you have to be such an ass!” This was exactly the kind of thing her sexist boss would find funny. The most disturbing thing about them was the expressionless plastic faces, there was something mindless yet malevolent about them.

She shut her eyes as they closed in on her, pulling her arms in front of her face. Suddenly there was a hand grasping her own, she yelped trying to pull it back, only to be dragged away.

“Run.” A rough Northern voice urged her. Now she was clinging on for dear life while a stranger clad in a battered leather jacket pulled her towards the lift. She could only stare in bemused horror as the man yanked the arm of the dummy keeping the lift from fully closing. “You pulled his arm off.” She murmured in shock.

“Yep. Plastic.” He waved it at her, a manic grin spread across his face.

_Who was he? What was he doing here? There’s something about him…_

“Very clever. Nice Trick.” She smiled shakily. “Who did this then, was it students?”

He frowned, clear blue eyes scrutinizing her, “Why would it be students?”

She shrugged, “Who else does something dumb like this, students are always playing tricks on people, it must have taken some organisation to set up…” She trailed off uncertainly.

An amused smile tugged at the side of his mouth, “That makes sense, well done.” Her eyes narrowed, unsure if he was being condescending.

“They’re not students. “ He continued solemnly, his jokey demeanour changing suddenly.

“Well whoever did it, Wilson’s gonna have a fit when he sees the mess back there.”

He tilted his head consideringly, glancing back at the lift they had just exited. “Who’s Wilson.”

“The Chief electrician.”

A pitying look crossed his face, “Well, Wilson’s dead.”

Shock filled her, things like that didn’t happen. Not to her. Her life was completely ordinary, mundane. Moving shop dummies and dead electricians, that was something she heard about on the news, not something that would happen to her.

“You’re lying.”

“What would I do that for?” She had forgotten she was still holding his hand as he practically shoved her out of the door. He fiddled with a small device he produced from his pocket. He tossed the plastic arm to her.

“Who are you? Why is this happening?” A pleading note entered her voice.

The man rolled his eyes, “They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures.” He repeated. “They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof” Gesturing above, “which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this.” He waved the compact device, “So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed.” With that, he slammed the door shut.

_Charming._

The door swung open again sharply. “I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?”

 _The Doctor._ Her mind whispered, she shuddered. _Not now, not now._ For the first time, she assessed him more thoroughly. His appearance was rather average, his cropped hair with exposed ears which stuck out a bit too noticeably. Yet that name _the Doctor._ Yes, she knew that name, it was so very familiar.

“Rose.” She finally remembered how to speak.

He smiled brightly, “Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life”

\-----

It was difficult to fall asleep. Her mind was whirling a mile a minute. It was difficult to feel sorry for losing her job, she was bored to death there anyway. She winced, someone had actually died there. Who was the Doctor? What were those dummies doing there? Would they have actually killed her?

She crept out of bed silently, making towards her dresser. She pulled out a worn pink journal with faded hearts embellishing it and made her way back to bed. The street light shone dimly through her blind, illuminating her room just enough. Her thumb gently stroked the spine of the journal before flicking to the first page. A hazy illustration of a blue police box took up the page, the crayon medium reflected the age she was when she drew it. Turning the pages absentmindedly she went past a bronze robot in the shape of a pepper pot and an illustration of a meadow stained crimson, silvery trees where tinged with ash. One of her earlier therapists had recommended recording her dreams in a diary in order to make sense of them.

The night she woke up screaming about being burnt alive marked her mother’s insistence that she got professional help. Only eight years old, she had been reassured that night terrors were not so uncommon and yet the fantastical quality of them she recounted to her therapist appeared to visibly disturb him. The diary did help in a way, being able to quantify and record everything she dreamed of.  Then there was that name, _the Doctor._ She swore she knew that name, outside of the ordinary sense of the word.

 _Surely plenty of people must introduce themselves as ‘the Doctor’ it isn’t an uncommon title to hold._ The presence of those _things_ made of plastic, pursuing her, it was like falling into one of her nightmares. She closed her journal with a snap, chiding herself for getting carried away. Eventually, sleep claimed her.

\-----

**He was staring up at the sky, brilliant pinpricks of light filled his vision. He could ignore the damp grass sticking to his coat. His head turned, catching the smile that played across his friend’s face. He shuffled closer to him.**

**“I told you you’d enjoy this.” The blonde chimed gleefully.**

**The brunet rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, I suppose you sometimes have good ideas. Mind you if the professors catch us out here we’re done for Theta.”**

**The blonde squeezed his hand, “You worry too much; just think, soon we’ll be out there, exploring the universe. With you by my side what could go wrong?”**

**The brunet smiled back, “You have to be able to pass your driving test first, I’ve seen how awful you are in those simulations.”**

**The blonde pulled back his hand, rolling onto his back. “I resent that. The professors don’t have nearly enough creativity. I think being grounded on Gallifrey has drained all of their imagination from them.” Seeing his friend’s amused look he sighed, “I suppose you can drive sometimes.”**

**“How generous.” He cast his eyes back up to the sky, there was so much hope, so much anticipation. Soon their lives would truly begin. The stars were almost within reach. Not even the dull thrumming in the back of his head could taint this.**

**The blonde rested his chin on the brunet’s chest. “I’ll take you anywhere in the universe Koschei, just you wait.”**

\-----

She woke with a gasp, the vivid colours and warm feelings left a lingering impression as the details of the dream slowly slipped away. There was nothing truly distinctive but there was a quality to the dream that was familiar, it was like her _other dreams._ It had been some time since she had had one of _those dreams_ ; she’d thought they’d stopped after visiting her last therapist. Or maybe she was just being paranoid.

She shambled around the flat sluggishly, fending off her mother’s attempts to convince her to seek compensation. She would be seeing Mickey again today. Lovely normal, safe Mickey. There wasn’t a dangerous bone in his body, the opposite of her last boyfriend. Even if he was a bit boring and tended to drone on about football, he loved her. Rose was unable to deny that she enjoyed this, the feeling of someone seeing her as desirable, loving her. If her heart didn’t flutter and pound in return at the sight of Mickey she could just remind herself that true love doesn’t exist, fictionalised romance could only give you unrealistic expectations. She had Mickey and she was happy, maybe that was love.

Rose was pulled out of her musing by an odd rattling noise coming from the kitchen. With a flicker of annoyance, she got up from the sofa, making her way to the door. “I thought you said, you’d nailed the cat flap shut!” She called out behind her. Her mother’s indistinct reply was unheard as she examined the nails resting on the doormat underneath. _How…?_

She bent down, poking at the flap cautiously. Only to be greeted by the furrowed brow of the man who blew up her workplace. Quickly unlocking the door she glared at the man suspiciously, _is he following me?_

“What are you doing here?” He queried, he glanced above her head into the flat, eyes darting about.

“I live here.” She replied tonelessly.

“Well, what do you do that for?”

“Oh I dunno, maybe I just do. I wouldn’t even be here stuck at home if it wasn’t for a certain someone who blew up my job.” Her response was accusing. She got the impression he wasn’t really paying attention to her, he was busy fiddling with a small silver tube, a low buzzing sound was issued as a blue light was shone in her face.

“Must have got the wrong signal.” He mutters, “Not plastic are you?” He rapped his hand on her head, “No, boneheaded. Bye then.” Her hand stretched out of its own accord, latching onto his jacket.

“Get in here.” She didn’t know who this Doctor was but she wanted answers now. He looked like he was going to refuse before being silenced with an icy glare. She poked her head into her mum’s room. “He’s here about last night as part of the inquiry.” She jerked her head in his direction.

Her mother fiddled with the belt of her dressing gown catching the eye of the Doctor. “She deserves compensation.”

The Doctor raised his hands in a placating gesture, “Oh, we’re talking millions.”

Their conversation was indistinct as Rose made her way into the living room, the Doctor had a slightly disturbed look on his face as he glanced back anxiously towards her mum’s bedroom. She felt a tinge of embarrassment at the state of the flat; clothes were sprawled over the furniture carelessly. “Do you fancy a coffee?”

He shrugged, “Might as well. Just milk for me, thanks.”

Rose mechanically went through the motions of preparing the drink, barely paying attention when water sloshed out of the kettle onto the worktop. “Maybe we should go to the police, whatever they were up to in the shop can’t have been good, even if it was just a prank that got out of hand.” She continued to babble, “It would help if I knew what I was supposed to tell them…” She glanced in the direction of the living room. _Is he even paying attention to me?_

“What’s that then? You got a cat?” He called out abruptly.

_Typical._

She marched into the room looking irritated; cards now littered the room hazardously. Brown eyes widened in shock as she took in the sight of her reluctant houseguest holding a plastic arm to his throat. _I swear I told Mickey to get rid of that when he visited me last night._

“Would you stop messing about, they found a body back at Henricks and all you can do is play about with that plastic arm.” Gesturing rudely.  The arm he had been struggling in vain to remove finally released him, changing direction mid-air to latch onto Rose. Spluttering in surprise she let out a muffled plea for help. The Doctor grasped the arm, attempting to dislodge it with brute strength, sending them spiralling into the coffee table. The Doctor got up with a grunt jabbing his sonic screwdriver into it. Rose was relieved to be released, shuffling as far away from it as possible.

“It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, you see? Armless.” He waved it manically.

“You don’t say.” Eying it dubiously, before smacking him in the head with it. With a yelp the Doctor got up to flee the flat; Rose darted after him.

“Where do you think you’re going,” she called after him as she attempted to catch up down the winding staircase.

“Some of us have better things to do than sit around indoors all day.” He retorted

“Oh no you don’t,” She grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him to face her, now outside of the flat. “What were those things? Why were they after me?”

He rolled his eyes, “Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all.” Purposely ignoring the first question.

“Got in the way of what.”

“Me,” he responded cheerfully.

“Oh, so it’s you the universe revolves around then.” Releasing him to place her hands on her hips.

“Yep.”

He started to walk away again and Rose trailed after him silently, debating whether or not to ask him what was on her mind. “You said you’re called the Doctor…”

He nodded, “That’s right, hello.”

“ _The Doctor_ , like it’s a name or a title…” She trailed off, “A promise.”

He stopped at a complete standstill, analysing her critically, “What makes you say that?”

She shrugged, uncomfortable from the scrutiny, “Dunno, just that way it seems.”

He made a thoughtful humming noise, “I’m just the Doctor, and you Rose Tyler should go home, a lot safer back there.”

She drew closer, “Living plastic you said, how can plastic be living?”

“The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead.”

Her brow furrowed, “You’re saying that plastic can be controlled by radio waves.”

“Nope. Thought control.” He corrected.

There was something so utterly certain about his responses, she tried to detect any hint of deception in his features but found none. _He really believes what he’s saying._ And yet another part of her whispered darkly, _is anything he’s saying seem more unbelievable than what you’ve dreamed of…the Doctor…and the aliens…_ She scolded herself lightly, _it isn’t alien, none of that is real, it’s a story I made up in my head._

“What is this ‘thing’ that’s controlling it?”

He scratched his head, eyes roving around the park, searching for something. “Long story.”

“What could they possibly accomplish controlling dummies, it’s not like they can just take over Britain’s shops.”

He chuckled, “It's not a price war.” Before his expression took on a solemn quality, “They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you.” Pausing, “Do you believe me?”

Clear blue eyes were alight with such intensity, she found herself caught in his gaze before blinking, “They-I-I don’t know.”

His lip twitched, “That’s not a no.”

A part of her so desperately wanted to believe him, yet she was scared.

“Who are you Doctor?” A request mixed with a plea. He seemed to recognise the desperation in her request, curiosity colouring his face. Gently he took her hand in his, an electric jolt seemed to pass from him to her from the contact.

“Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still.” His thumb stroked the back of her hand absentmindedly as his eyes became almost vacant, seeing something she couldn’t. “I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it” his tone of voice growing louder and more powerful. A strange sensation swept through her, for a second there was simply more to the universe, everything made sense; she could see how he saw the universe in all of its complexity and wonder. “We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go…” His hand released, shocking her out of a dazed state. “That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home. “

Rose could only watch him leave, too stunned by the absence of _that sensation_ ; everything was somehow dimmer now, in contrast, lacking a certain quality she couldn’t recall. It was then that Rose Tyler made a decision. She would find this Doctor again, she would get answers to her questions.

\-----

Rose poked at her drink absentmindedly. Thoughts of the things Clive had told her were at the forefront of her mind. How could anyone live for that long? It didn’t seem possible that the Doctor could be the same man in all of those pictures. Her eyes flickered up taking in Mickey’s oddly fixed grin. _Maybe Mickey was right, maybe I should let it all go. This Doctor could just be a complete nutter._

“So, where did you meet this Doctor?” Mickey inquired suddenly, a drastic change from his rambling about food.

“It doesn’t matter, it isn’t likely I’ll run into him again anyway.”

“Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?” He continued as if she hadn’t even said anything.

Roses eyes narrowed, “I don’t want to talk about it Mickey, I’ve had a long day. I just want to forget about it.”

Mickey’s hand grasped hers, they were cold and slippery, his grip unyielding. Nothing like the warm grasp of the Doctor’s. “But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart. “

“What’s wrong with you,” She tried to tug her hands out from underneath his, pinning them to the table.

“Your champagne.” A voice called from behind.

“We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor? “Mickey insisted.

“Madam, your champagne.”

She turned, filled with frustration. “Go away, can’t you see we’re-.” She stopped. It was the Doctor, “Oh.” Mickey followed her gaze, releasing her hands, a menacing gleam in his eyes.

“Gotcha.” He called triumphantly.

The Doctor shook the champagne bottle vigorously, “Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!” The cork popped off and struck Mickey in the forehead, it was sucked into the flesh and spat back out with a grin. Rose could only stare at her boyfriend in mute horror.  The Plastic Mickey’s hand became a chopper, swinging wildly he smashed through the table, advancing angrily. Rose managed to pull the fire alarm as she edged away from the rampant destruction. The Doctor had him in a headlock, applying pressure to his neck the head finally gave and became detached.

After shooing the rest of the customers out Rose took off after the Doctor through the kitchens towards the back exit. She made straight for the padlocked gate, tugging insistently on the chains before flashing the Doctor a desperate look, “Can’t you use your sonic screwdriver on it?”

Alarm crossed his face, “How did you know it was called that?”

A sharp pain flashed through her skull. “Is now really the time?” She hissed, flinching at the dull thud of someone striking the door she had closed behind them.

The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the door, “Come on.” he said in a gentle voice, “I know a place we can hide.”

She stopped in front of a blue wooden police box. Her heart stopped in her chest. _No no no no no…this isn’t real, it can't be real. How can this be here?_ The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the terrified look on the girl’s face. “Are you coming?”

She nodded mutely, stepping into the big blue box. Her mind flashed back to the drawing in her journal, tangible proof that she wasn’t going insane. Her footsteps faltered as her eyes panned the room, the walls stretched out beyond the dimensions it appeared to have from the outside. The central cylinder cast a ghostly green light across a circular console. Above all of this, there was a soft sound weaving through the back of her mind, a melody which grew quieter whenever she attempted to analyse it. There was a deep exhaling sound echoing past the smooth archways.

Without her consent her hand reached out to stroke one of the archways, a warm hum reverberated through her mind in response, stunning her.

Eventually, she looked up at the Doctor. His expression was a cross between amusement and curiosity, his head tilted to the side as if he was having difficulty figuring her out. “Well…” he prompted.

“She’s alive.” Rose breathed in wonder.

Perplexed, the Doctored muttered, “That’s a new one.”

Rose whipped her head around battling the urge to leave and check the outside of the ship or to stay inside away from the nutty plastic replica of her boyfriend. She concentrated on the warm feeling trickling through her mind, like soothing bath water. _Definitely alive, the ship…I can feel her._

“How do you know she’s alive,” He paused, “Scratch that, how do you know she’s a she?”

Rose noticed that there was wariness in the way he regarded her, “Aren’t ships usually called ‘she,’ I assume she is a ship. As for being alive, can’t you feel her?”

She was met with amazement and a low laugh, “Of course I know she’s alive. She’s called the TARDIS, that’s Time and Relative Dimension in Space.” He stepped closer buzzing his screwdriver in a circular motion around her head. He looked thoughtful for a moment taking in the readings. “Hmm, that's odd”

“What's odd?”

“It’s not important, slight abnormality.”

_I don't think I like the sound of that._

“So…questions?” He spun around from tweaking at the console. Rose’s eyes widened as she noticed he was wiring in Mickey’s plastic head.

“Right…questions, I guess it goes without saying that this is alien.” There was no way that humans could create something as dazzling as this, a functioning organic ship. Her fingers were still lightly rubbing one of the twisted arches.

“Yes.”

“Are you alien?” She hesitated.

His eyes darkened, “Yeah, is that alright?”

“Yes.” She responded without even thinking. Having grown up on various sci-fi programmes as a child she wasn’t eager to dismiss the possibility of aliens, to begin with. There was something so incredible about seeing tangible evidence in person. _The Doctor in his TARDIS, familiar words, familiar feelings._ her vision became hazy for a second, for a moment she could smell rust scented grass, she could taste sun heavy air. _TARDIS TARDIS TARDIS TARDIS._ The words echoed in her head, she winced as the pounding started again _da da day dum_ , the dreams always made it worse. Her mum usually dismissed it as a bad migraine.

A hand rested on her shoulder jolting her out of her thoughts.

“Are you alright?” She nodded. “Ah, culture shock, it happens to the best of us.”

She felt embarrassed by his knowing gaze, _except he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know about my dreams, he doesn’t know what I’m thinking._ She averted eye contact, looking back at the plastic head. “Is Mickey dead?”

He followed her gaze to the console, “Oh, I didn’t think of that.”

She felt anger rise in her. “You pulled off a copy of my boyfriend’s head and didn’t spare a thought to whether he’s dead or not?”

“Well, it’s only just occurred to you now.”

“I’ve been a bit preoccupied.” She retorted.

“So have I!” He glared, “I don’t have time to be worrying about every ape blundering about called Rickey.”

“His name’s Mickey.” She pointed at the console, “And now you’re just going to let him melt.”

Panic stole across his face, “Melt?” He raced over and began to press various buttons, slamming his fist into the side of the ship. “No, no, no, no, no.” The ship shuddered, issuing a wheezing sound before resting back to a standstill.

Rose followed after the Doctor as he took off outside of the front door. In truth she felt a bit guilty that she had forgotten about Mickey too, it was just easier being angry at the Doctor for the same thing. She blinked in shock as she realised she was now stood near the Thames, miles away from the restaurant.

“How did you do that?” She zipped her hoodie up, shivering in the cold air. “Did we fly?”

“Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand” He still sounded a bit miffed.

She glanced back at the TARDIS. It was so unassuming, a simple blue box housing one of the greatest secrets in the universe. “Time Vortex.” She mumbled. She didn’t notice that the Doctor was frowning at her as she stared off into the distance.

“You’re a funny human.” He stated seriously.

“Yeah well you’re an alien from God knows where, with a Northern accent.”

“Oi, lots of planets have a North.” He replied, offended.

She smiled at him, “And all of these planets full of diverse species and dialects contain aliens with Northern accents. What about your spaceship, why does she look like a police box?”

“It’s a disguise.” He announced proudly. “A telephone box from the 1950s”

“Funny sort of disguise.” She muttered.

The Doctor was twisting his head around, searching for something, only half paying attention to her.

“What’s this living plastic got against us?”

“Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect.” He gestured to the smoke pouring out of a nearby chimney. “Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!” He announced.

Aliens were taking over her planet, her boring little planet where the greatest thing she had to worry about was getting a job. “How do we stop it?”

The Doctor pulled a small vial out of his pocket, full of a brilliant blue liquid. “Anti-plastic.”

She repeated the name after him. _He just so happens to possess whatever we need to kill this thing._

“But first.” He continued, “I’ve got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?”

“What are we looking for?"

“The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal. A big, round circular transmitter, slap bang in the middle of London.” He drew a circle with his finger. “A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible.”

Rose stared at the London Eye, behind the Doctor’s back. _Does he really not know?_

He caught onto her amused expression. “What?”

She tilted her head forwards.

“What is it? What?”

She sighed. He followed her line of sight to the London Eye. A smile lit up his face. “Oh, fantastic!”

\-----

At long last, they found a large chamber, hidden beneath a man tunnel near the south bank of Westminster Bridge. Rose clung to the bars of the ladder determinedly; her palms were sweating and her heart thumping wildly. There were a few flights of stairs before they were confronted with an enormous molten vat of plastic, twisting and bubbling away.

“The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature.” There was a look of awe on his face.

There was really no point getting sentimental about it. “Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go.”

The Doctor appeared slightly horrified, shadows crossed his face. “I’m not here to kill it. I’ve got to give it a chance. You humans are all the same.

“I didn’t see you reasoning with plastic Mickey when you ripped his head off. What about blowing up all those dummies.” She responded defensively.

He flinched, “This is different, this is the source. If I can resolve things peacefully…”

“You called them _living_ plastic, weren’t those dummies alive too?”

He ignored her and made his way further down the steps towards the Nestene Consciousness. “ I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation.”

There was a slight pressure building up in her head, a low buzzing like static as she watched the vat flex. Her interest was torn away when she noticed Mickey. Relief flooded her chest. Safe, normal Mickey was alive.

“Mickey!” She hissed his name, conscious that the alien plastic might hear her. “Are you okay?”

He was shivering in a ball, peering up at her fearfully, “That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it's alive. It keeps making these noises!”

She tuned out the Doctor as she made her way over to her petrified boyfriend, hugging him tightly. “It’s going to be okay Micks.” She jumped when the Doctor began to yell, peeking from above the railings she could see that a pair of dummies had seized him. The blue vial had been removed from his leather jacket by force. A panel drew back exposing the TARDIS.

“What’s happening?” She called out.

“It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!” He begged her, misery painted across his face.

She could only stand there, watching him struggle. She was frozen to the spot. _What am I suppose to do?_ The vat began to churn more violently, the buzzing in her head increased to an almost painful extent.

“Rose, please get out. I shouldn’t have dragged you here. Please just run!”

Mickey was clinging to her side, his face buried in her chest. “We’re going to die.” He whimpered.

The Autons kept pushing against the Doctor, attempting to throw him into the vat. The Nestene rippled again, this time the pressure in her head gave way. “Time Lord!” It snarled.

Rose shuddered at the sound of the voice, pouring through her head. _I could leave now. Leave him to die._ Her fingers twisted around the metal chain of her pocket watch, her head felt so loud. An odd feeling of resentment flooded through her as she watched the Doctor struggle pitifully. She shook her head, _no I can’t, how could I do that?_

She looked around the chamber, spotting a pair of ropes chained to a wall. “No A-levels, no job, no future. Nothing but a boring human life.” She whispered to herself.  She grabbed a fallen axe, swinging viciously at the rope.  “But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I've got the bronze!” He voice grew in volume as the rope gave.

 She grasped it steadily, drums pounding in her mind along with her heartbeat. She swung out off the platform kicking the Autons, the vial slipped out of its fingers into the vat. The molten gold began to turn blue and curdle. A horrific scream rang through her head before abruptly being cut off, muffled as a wave of vertigo hit her. Her hands began to slide from the rope as she landed into the Doctor’s waiting arms.

Her legs were unsteady as he slowly released her. He grinned at her widely, “Now we’re in trouble.”

\-----

She numbly left the TARDIS, her head still felt a bit odd but at least the painful buzzing was gone. _Did that thing really speak in my head?_

She regarded her phone guiltily. _What kind of daughter doesn’t think to call her own mother when the end of the world is here?_ Mickey was still clinging to her ignoring the condescending look of the Doctor who remained in the doorway of the TARDIS. Rose’s mouth twisted in indecision before putting her phone back in her pocket.

“A fat lot of good you were.”

“Nestene Consciousness? Easy.” He snaps his fingers.

She rolls her eyes, “You were completely useless, you’d be dead if it wasn’t for me.” And wasn’t that a sinister thought, she’d almost considered leaving him to die.

“Yes, I would.” He watched her quietly, weighing something up silently in his mind. “Thank you.” His eyes lingered on her before moving back to the interior of his ship. “Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me.” He spoke quickly, rushing the words, “This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge.”

Mickey moaned, tightening his grip on her, “Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing” The last word made her frown.

“He's not invited.” Disgust crossed his face. “What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere.”

The way he described a normal life made her insides twist painfully. It was so utterly wrong yet she didn’t know of any other way to live. She had a chance to see the stars, to truly live. Maybe if she travelled with him she would understand the cause of her dreams, why she had drawn his TARDIS as a child. Then she recalled that dark feeling from earlier, the instinct to flee, to leave everyone to die. _What if it happens again?_

She looked down, shuffling her feet, “I can’t…I’ve got this thing. And there’s my mother and this one.” She patted Mickey’s head, “Someone has to look after him.” The drums in her head pounded angrily at her denial making her head ache. She couldn’t just leave the life she had, her safe structured life.

“Okay.” He responded with forced nonchalance. His smile was somewhat strained. “See you around.”

Rose could feel tears beginning to form in her eyes. _Stupid stupid stupid!_ There was an overwhelming feeling of being choked, trapped. Perhaps it was just due to the tightness of which Mickey was clinging to her. “Come on Mickey, let’s go.” Her voice broke slightly. She turned away and began to walk away from the deserted alley.

Just then there was a loud rumbling sound and a familiar wheezing. She pushed Mickey off of her and watched the TARDIS reappear, stunned. Hope filled her chest.

The door swung open. The Doctor made eye contact determinedly “By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?”

 _Time, time travel, time and space, Time Lord._ She twined her watch chain around her fingers. _He came back for me._ The thought resounded in her head loudly, waging against disbelief. _He came back._

This thought seemed to override all of her inclination towards duty and responsibility. The Doctor had asked her twice, he wanted her to come with him. She felt positively giddy, spinning around she kissed Mickey on the cheek. “Thanks.”

“Thanks for what?” He replied confused.

“Exactly.” _Thank you for being so oblivious, so normal, so Mickey. But normal isn’t what I want anymore, it isn’t enough._

Without looking back she pelted towards the TARDIS. She watched the Doctor’s smile slowly grow and took his hand.

_Goodbye Earth_


	3. The End of the World: Random Messing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and the Doctor watch the Earth die

Rose stared into the time rotor; the cylinder cast a warm green light on her. She couldn’t overcome her awe at how beautiful it was. Slowly her eyes moved to the Doctor, he seemed rather self-satisfied by the wonder she was openly displaying.

 “All of time and space at your fingertips and you choose to spend your time in London of all places.”

 He scratched the back of his ear sheepishly, “Earth’s a personal favorite, I spent a few years there. Not exactly by choice at the time.” He smiled at the memory, “Well then, where do you want to go?”

 “I don’t exactly have a large frame of reference, I bet you know hundreds of planets.”

 “Hmm, I think we’ll work our way up to planets. Besides, there's tones you don’t know about your own history. How does the future sound?”

 “Fine by me.” She grinned.

 The Doctor sprinted to the other side of the console, pulling down two levers and twisting a dial. “The only question is, how far?”

 “How far are you willing to go?” She challenged.

 “Oh, just you wait Rose Tyler.”

  _It’s different to conceptualise the future, sure sci-fi programmes try their best but there’s always the thought that none of us are going to be around to see the distant future, and now I’m going to see it._ It made her almost feel unworthy, a silly little shop girl with no future gets to see the universe when there were bigger better people than her that the Doctor could be showing this too. A surge of disdain filled her, smothering her self-depreciation, _we’re better than those stupid ap-_

“Are you coming then? Don’t tell me you have cold feet already.”

 Rose blinked slightly confused, she couldn’t quite recall what she’d been thinking about. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

 -----

 “You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive.” He commented fondly.  “This is the year five point five slash apple slash twenty-six. Five billion years in your future and this is the day,” He glanced down at his watch, “Hold on.” The sun flared an angry red, throwing out glowing golden light, “This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world.”

Rose stared out the massive window in the observation deck, a sickly looking Earth stared back, it was old and grey whilst she was still so very young. It filled her with sadness as if she was saying goodbye to an old friend. She became slightly alarmed at the practically cheerful look on the Doctor’s face. Her planet was going to burn and he was just going to stand there and smile; uncontrollable loathing washed through her.

 She followed the Doctor down the corridor, ignoring the whine of the intercom. She carefully watched his face for any trace of what he was feeling. She swallowed heavily, “Where exactly are we, some kind of spaceship?”

“It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn.” He fiddled with a panel on the wall.

“Why?”

He hooked his thumbs into the loops of his jeans, “For fun.” He continued to wander around.

“How long has the planet got left.” She bit her lip.

He shrugged before flippantly responding, “About half an hour then it gets roasted.”

She nodded slowly, “Right so it’s like with those dummy things, you’re going to save it.”

“Nope.” He popped the ‘p’ “Time’s up.”

“Aren’t there people down there?”

“Nah, you lot have made your way across the stars, there’s no one left on ol’ Earth.” His smile faltered as he noticed her sickly complexion. He opened his mouth as if he was going to ask her something but he was interrupted by someone clearing their throat noisily.

A tall man with brilliant azure skin was glaring at them disapprovingly, golden slit eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Who the hell are you?”

“Is that any way to treat a guest?” The Doctor queried sarcastically.

“You’re guests?” He regarded them skeptically.

The Doctor pulled out what looked like a black leather wallet from his jacket pocket and opened it with a flick of the wrist. “The Doctor plus one. I’m the Doctor and this is Rose Tyler. She’s my plus one, is that alright?” He waved the wallet vigorously. The blue Steward looked apologetic and quickly mumbled something placating before taking off. The Doctor turned to Rose, showing her a blank piece of paper proudly, “The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time.”

“It’s a blank piece of paper.” She stated.

His forehead creased, “Hang on a mo’” He closed the wallet and concentrated on it hard. He flipped it back open and held it out to her, “How about now?”

Rose shook her head, “I swear you make this stuff up, there’s nothing on it.”

The Doctor scrutinised her, mentally adding her reaction to his ongoing list of ‘Rose Tyler Abnormalities’ just beneath her naming his sonic screwdriver correctly. “Funny human.”

“Odd Alien,” She shot back.

\-----

Her eyes traversed the room in amazement, so many different species. The strangest part was that it felt almost comforting, the babble of voices and the stark difference between this and a crowded street in London was evident. She watched a conversation between two fur-clad reptilians and it struck her how small her world was. It was laughable that there were some humans who didn’t even believe that aliens exist. _Quite ego-centric of humans to assume they’re the only sentient life forms in the universe._

Rose giggled as she saw the Doctor breathe on one of the tree people, she felt uncertain about approaching any of them, still unsure if the Doctor’s fake invitation would hold up to scrutiny. When the Steward announced the last human, she could only gape in shock. _This is what becomes of us, nothing but skin on a metal frame. The Doctor painted a much more appealing picture of the legacy of the human race than this._ She looked at the Doctor disapprovingly as he bobbed his head to the sound of Tainted love from the ‘I pod’ _Maybe that’s all we are in the end, just forgotten stories. History is like a game of bloody Chinese Whispers._ The Doctor laughed politely as ‘The Last Human’ recounted ‘humorous’ anecdotes from Earth. Rose slowly slipped away from the Doctor to approach the Face of Boe. A huge craggy head with serene eyes, his lips twitched slightly at the sight of her behind his glass tank.

“Hello.” She spoke lowly.

_“Hello.”_ The word echoed softly in her mind. Rose jumped slightly in surprise. _“There’s no need to be alarmed Rose, I’m a friend.”_

She cautiously pressed a hand to the cool glass, “I’m sorry but you must be mixing me up with someone else.”

_“It would be difficult to forget you, Rosie.”_

“How do you know me?”

_“We’re old friends, at least we will be.”_

The Face of Boe didn’t give anything away, there was a sense of fondness which accompanied his telepathic communication. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for this time travel lark, everything is so familiar yet so alien. A part of me loves and hates it, and I don’t know which part of me it is.” She confided. Her cheeks flushed red, “I really shouldn’t be bothering you with all this.”

A soft laugh rang through her head, _“There are many hardships ahead. I do have some advice for you though, you can be whoever you want to be, names are not as important as you think. One day you have to choose between who you were and who you want to be.”_

“Is being cryptic a predicate of the elderly?”

_“Perhaps, see you soon Rose.”_

\-----

Rose’s mind was pounding heavily, her conversation with the Face of Boe had set her headache off again. The drumming had picked up again, _da da day dum. It never truly goes away, like a low background sound, it’s louder now. What decision do I have to make? When?_ She toyed with a metal sphere left on the steps of the observatory. The sun was pulsing heavily, barely contained. And then there was the poor washed out Earth, dying slowly. _Why did the Doctor choose to bring me here?_ She sighed in frustration and flung the ball at one of the whitewashed walls.

“Rose are you in here?” A voice called from the doorway. His face lit up when he saw her, he threw himself down heavily next to her patting her shoulder. “So, what do you think?”

She shrugged his hand off her shoulder. “Sure it’s great…just out of all of the places in the universe we could go…why did you choose here?”

The Doctor shifted away from her slightly, tugging on the edge of his jumper he looked away. “Well, the end of the Earth; once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“Oh, so you thought taking me on a trip to see my planet burn would be fun.” She snapped, “All of those people out there,” She gestured behind to the door, “They don’t care about the Earth, it’s just a bit of entertainment. “ Something dark was rising inside of her, something filled with malice, “What about you Doctor, do you enjoy watching planets die?”

The Doctor rose to his feet angrily, “Is that what you think this is about?” His icy blue eyes full of fury, “I-I wanted you to understand.”

“What exactly am I supposed to understand? Who are you, Doctor?” She began to feel panic well up in her. _I left my home with barely a second thought to run off with a madman that I know nothing about._

“I’m just the Doctor?” He insisted

“Where are you from my dear _Doctor_?” She spat his name scathingly.

Surprise flashed across his face, “Why does it matter, it’s not like you’d know where it is.”

“Just tell me who you are.” Her breath came out heavily as tears sparkled in her eyes, “Because right now I’m scared.”

He scowled down at her, “This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me.”

The platform jerked under their feet causing the Doctor to stumble slightly. “That shouldn’t have happened.” He muttered to himself. He cast her a judging look, “Are you coming or what?”

\-----

The Doctor had run up to the tree lady, _Jabe._ She reminded herself. Talking quickly about gravity pockets and engines. She tuned him out. _I really shouldn’t have gotten so angry. I’ll apologise to him later,_ she promised herself. She watched sadly as he ran off with his new friend, _even a tree is better company than me._ Rose considered wandering back over to the Face of Boe but caught sight of the ridiculous piece of skin masquerading as the last human. _This should be fun._

Small blue eyes fastened onto her, “You came with that loud man that enjoys the sound of his own voice.”

“You’re telling me.” She muttered.

“And what exactly are you?” Her voice dripped with disdain.

“Oh, I’m human she responded absentmindedly.”

Cassandra snorted, Rose wondered briefly how she could even talk without vocal cords, “What kind of human?”

“Just plain human.”

“As if.” The taut skin attempted to sneer, at least Rose thought she did, she was stretched too tightly to accurately tell. “I am the last pure human, the others mingled. Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-humans and Digi-humans, even Humanish, but do you know what  I call them?” She paused for dramatic effect, “Mongrels and freaks.”

“Right.” Rose nodded, “And how many operations did you have to keep yourself pure?”

“Seven hundred and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Rose. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out. “

Rose’s face screwed up in disgust, “What kind of a life is that? You’re just a piece of skin. You talked about all those husbands before when you were introduced but do you know what? You can never touch anyone again, you have no arms to hold anyone, no heart left, just lipstick and skin. I would rather die than end up like you.”

Cassandra called out for her assistants, “There is certainly no accounting for taste. Remove me from her presence boys, just looking at her makes me feel fat.”

_I can’t wait to leave here, nothing is going well today._ Rose made her way back into the corridor, wanting to be as far away from Cassandra as possible.  Heavy footsteps sounded behind her, she turned just in time to be smacked in the face by a gun. Everything went black.

\-----

“Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. “ The intercom chirped.

Rose groaned, her head hurt worse than a night of Vodka shots with her mate Shireen. She could remember being smacked with a gun by a cloaked figure. The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. “Ugh.” She uttered. The computer repeated its warning and light began to fill the room from above. A hot white blanket of light began to descend from the ceiling. Rose ran to the door, tugging on it uselessly. “Let me out! Let me out!”

Rose could hear something on the other side of the door, a buzzing sound, and a loud scrape. “Anyone in there?”

The familiar voice filled her with desperate hope, “Doctor, help me!”

“Oh, well. It would be you.” He grumbled to himself.

“Open the door!” She shouted back.

“Hold on, I’m trying.” He responded agitatedly.

Rose began to crouch down, eager to put as much distance between her and the sun filter as possible.

“Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.” A moment later, “Sun filter descending.”

“What are you doing?” She shrieked. “Stop messing around.”

“The computer’s being clever.” There was a loud clang on the other side of the door. “I’m sorry Rose, I’m going to try another way.”

“Please don’t leave me.” She cried.

“I’m sorry.”

_He always leaves you. He will always leave you._ Part of her whispered. _Shut up, shut up,_ she snapped back. _I’m not dying in here._

The sun filter kept fluctuating, raising and lowering. She could only hope that it didn’t reach her. She reached for the door with trepidation. There was a control panel next to the handle. Rose picked up a piece of scrap metal on the ground and began to unscrew the panel _I can’t just sit here._ She pulled the panel off and stared blankly at the purple wires, _this means literally nothing to me_. There was some sort of spherical fixture in the center and pulsing copper tubes attached.

Rose sighed in frustration, _I’m never getting out of here._ She shut her eyes tightly, one hand went to her jean pocket, rubbing her thumb across the pattern of her watch anxiously. Suddenly her mind went blank, as if on autopilot her hands reached for the wires and she began to attach and detach various fixtures.  Her thoughts were drowned out by the drumming _da da day dum da da day dum._

“Door opening.” The computer announced.

Rose blinked. She was standing in the open doorway holding a thin piece of metal with two pieces of wire twisted around it. _How did I…?_ Her head felt foggy and the drums dimmed somewhat. _I need to find the Doctor._

\-----

Rose ran into the main deck, breathing heavily. She looked around desperately for the Doctor. On the ground, there were multiple robed figures crumpled in a heap. The Doctor wasn’t the only one missing, Jabe and Cassandra were also absent.  The large panes of glass were beginning to crack, jets of light shot through. One struck the Moxx of Balhoon, he screamed in agony as he vapourised on the spot. She ran to the Face of Boe.

“Where is the Doctor?”

_“He went to the engine room with Jabe. Cassandra sabotaged the platform for profit. If you’re quick you should be able to catch up.”_

She thanked him and took off to find the Doctor.

After much searching, she heard a loud whirring sound, following the noise she came to a long room built like a runway catwalk. Except there were whirring fans of doom attached.  She hung around the door watching the two occupants of the room.

The Doctor walked up to the platform, eyes carefully following the fans. He turned back around to Jabe when he heard her whimper of pain. “Jabe, you can’t keep hold of that, you’ll burn.”

“Someone has to do it.” She insisted, her arms already shaking. “Stop wasting time, Time Lord.” Determinedly he turned back to the fans, timing his movements precisely.

_Time Lord, Time Lord, Time Lord, Time Lord._ The words rang through her head angrily, demanding to be acknowledged. Rose watched Jabe warily, black smoke began to rise from where her hands met the lever. Self-preservation warred with compassion inside of her. She ran up to Jabe and pulled her hands off the lever, wincing at the blackened state of them. Grabbing hold of it herself, she wrapped her hoodie around her hands, minimizing the heat for only a couple of seconds.

Jabe stared in shock at her, “No, let me do it.”

“You’ll die.” Sweat began to drip from Rose’s forehead. “I won’t let that happen.”

The heat became blistering, agony shot through her hands but she held on. _Let it go, let Jabe burn instead._ Part of her pleaded. _No, I won’t let any more people die._ She thought of the Moxx of Balhoon’s scream.

All that existed was the pain, Jabe moved slowly in the corner of her eye, the computer’s trill was slow and drawn out. Everything was so still. The air seemed thicker, heavier and lethargic. And then the sensation was gone. An insistent tugging on her shoulder and careful prying of her hands signaled the end. Warm arms enveloped her, she was held by the concerned gaze of the Doctor.

“Oh, Rose.” He murmured, examining the shiny pink flesh of her palms. He pressed his forehead to hers sighing. “What am I going to do with you?”

Pulling herself out of her pain-induced stupor Rose turned to Jabe, “What about Jabe, she was burned pretty badly.”

The kindly tree smiled at her, “I will be fine dear, trees have more effective regenerative powers than humans.”

The Doctor kept his arm around her as the exited the engine room, she cast apprehensive looks down at her hands which throbbed.

“It’s okay, I’ve got dermal regenerators in the sickbay, I’ll fix you up no problem.”

"Thanks, Bones," She joked.

Rose pressed herself closer to the Doctor, drinking in this unusual bout of tactile comfort, she pulled her stinging hands to her sides and docilely followed along after him. Crippling exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. A part of her felt proud that she’d been brave enough to save Jabe because surely the heat would have killed her where it had only burnt Rose.

When they reached the main deck the Doctor let go of her, pacing the room with nervous energy. “Well, I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby. “ He rushed over to the ostrich egg that Lady Cassandra had so kindly gifted them all with, he smashed it on the ground exposing a small device. “Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed. “He winked at Rose, she gave him a tentative smile back.

“ Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces.” A familiarly obnoxious voice called out. Cassandra rematerialized in the room, her mouth opened in surprise, “Oh.”

“The last human.” The Doctor sneered.

“So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er…” She hesitated, “The Human Club. “

“Was it worth it, money over the lives of these brilliant people?” He smiled at Jabe and her cohorts.

“It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries.” She chuckled. “Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter “

“And creak.” He added mockingly.

“And what?” A tone of panic entering her voice.

“You’re drying out,” Rose added quietly.

She called out for her assistants before turning pleading eyes to the Doctor, “Have pity! Moisturise me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything.”

He shook his head, “Everything has its time and everything dies.”

Finally, she looked at Rose. “Please Rose, you said you were human. Show me some humanity.”

“You wouldn’t recognize humanity if it danced the tango in front of you.” She retorted.

Cassandra’s skin began to stretch, her veins pulsing wildly as her pallor darkened in hue. “I’m too young!” She wailed before being ripped to shreds by the pressure.

\-----

They were back in the Observation Gallery. The Earth was little more than a scattering of asteroids, the sun blazed triumphantly through the planet's destruction.

“Are you okay?” Rose asked gently as she took in the pained expression on the Doctor’s face.

His eyes widened in surprise before guilt flashed across his face. “Am I alright? I should be asking you the same thing. I made a real mess of it all.”

“I don’t know about that.” She tilted her head to the door. “You saved that lot didn’t you.”

Blue eyes, clouded over, “I couldn’t save everyone. And you got hurt Rose, that’s on me.”

She shook her head, “It was my decision to help you.”

“You shouldn’t have to make those decisions.” He looked back out of the window. “You wanted to know why I brought you here. My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before its time. I just…”

“You wanted someone to understand.”

He raked his fingers through his cropped hair in distress, “It wasn’t fair on you. I could have brought you somewhere else, somewhere better. I’m just a bitter lonely old man. I don’t expect anything from you Rose. I’m glad you were even willing to come with me.”

She caught his hand in hers entwining their fingers. She winced as his hand rubbed against her sore flesh. “After all that and we didn’t even get to say goodbye. The Earth died and no one was there to see it.” She smiled at him, “It’s okay.”

He returned the smile gratefully, “Life goes on. Let me show you.” She laughed as he dragged her back to the TARDIS.

\-----

The air was thick with pollution and the grease of a nearby hotdog stand. A baby wailed into the busy street as a group of teenagers laughed and ran around the square.  The contrast between the streets teeming with life and that poor dead planet were jarring.

Rose rubbed her newly healed hands together.

“You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky.” He watched the clouds pass nostalgically, “There was a war, that’s how my planet died. We lost…everyone lost…even me and I’m the only survivor.” He cleared his throat, “The last of the Time Lords. I’m sure if the council could have chosen anyone to survive I would have been their last choice. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else.”

Rose reached for his hand, squeezing it; partially to comfort him and partially to distract her from the drums slowly increasing in volume. She pointedly ignored them, “You have me.”

He smiled down at her sadly, “I’ve already put you in danger once, twice even with that locked room.” He frowned, “Come to think of it how did you get out?”

Rose shrugged, “I just opened up the wall panel and messed about with the wires.”

He gave her a dubious look, “Your random messing had more success than my highly developed technology.”

“Maybe I’m just cleverer than you.” She teased playfully.

He laughed, “You think so?”

“I know so.” She jerked her head in the direction of the TARDIS, “Come on then, time to prove how clever you are.

He grinned, “I’ll take you anywhere in the universe Rose, just you wait.”


	4. The Unquiet Dead: Dreams and Dilemmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Unquiet Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I've just finished doing my A-levels. I couldn't find time to write with studying.

**“Let her go!” The Doctor demanded indignantly.**

**He threw his head back and laughed, his actions full of manic glee. It was a cunning mask, hiding the painful twisting in his stomach. The Master adjusted the gun held to the woman’s head. He cared not what her name was; it was her affiliation with the Doctor.**

**His threatening of her caused his sworn enemy anguish.**

**“Do you think he’ll weep if you die?” He asked the brunette conversationally. He brought his lips to her ear, ignoring her trembling. “I’ll let you in on a secret, give it a year and he’ll have forgotten your name. Humans are little more than mayflies.”**

**The Doctor wrung his hands in distress. “Please, you don’t want to do this.”**

**His eyes flashed angrily. The Master raised his left hand to stroke his beard thoughtfully, “Au contraire. Worry not, the pain of losing her won’t last for long. After all, you left me without a second thought, is that not so?”**

Rose jerked awake, her heart pounded fiercely in her chest. Already the dream was slipping away, the vividness fading. _I think I should be concerned with the frequency of my lucid dreams._ Pushing that to the back of her mind, she cast her thoughts upon her last adventure. _It must have been painful for the Doctor to lose his planet, I feel guilty for pushing him so much. I can only hope he doesn’t throw me out._

0o0o0o0o0o0

Rose stumbled through the corridors of the TARDIS. Her eyes flickered to an overhead light which flashed on and off as if to indicate that this was the correct path. Smiling lightly she stroked the walls. The TARDIS hummed warmly in the back of her mind in a comforting manner. _I wonder why the Doctor seemed so surprised that I knew the TARDIS was alive, is that unusual? It seems pretty obvious._

“Finally awake I see.”A voice called from the control room, he grinned broadly. “You humans, you spend most of your life asleep. The rest of it you spend walking around with your eyes shut.”

“A regular charmer, aren’t you?” She retorted, with a hint of a smile playing across her lips.

The Doctor pulled a lever down causing the central cylinder to shine even brighter. His body language seemed a lot more relaxed than the day before, as though having such a frank conversation before had alleviated a weight from his shoulders.

“Right then. Time Travel. All you basically need to know is time is essentially mutable, save for specific fixed points in time.”

“What happens if I step on a butterfly?” She mocked.

He rolled his eyes, “You lot. You think that such a tiny change in the past will significantly change the future yet you don’t believe anything you do in the present has any significance at all. You’ll be fine.”

He began his dance around the console, “Hold that one down.” He called out as his fingers flew across a series of buttons. He TARDIS shuddered sending Rose flying backwards. “Oi, you shouldn’t be doing that.” Rose made her way back over to the centre; her fingers hovered over a green lever hesitantly. She yanked it down and across, leading to the TARDIS desisting her whining. The Doctor strolled over. “There, easy.” Gesturing to the door. “What do you think? 1860 out there.”

Rose grinned back and eagerly made her way to the door. The Doctor seized her arm. “You’re not going out there dressed like that; you’ll start a riot Barbarella.” The blonde pouted at him.

“What if we have to run for our lives? I’m not wearing a dress.” She crossed her arms.

Pointing behind him, “There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Why do you always assume there will be trouble?”

She blinked, not fully comprehending his list of directions. She widened her eyes slightly and cast him a pitiful look.

He sighed, “The longer you take to get ready the less time you’ll have to explore.

She reluctantly left the room. Calling behind “What happened to this being a time machine?”

O0o0o0o0o0

Rose descended from the stairs, she tugged at the black bodice of the dress anxiously. _There’s no way I can move quickly in this if there is an emergency. At least the long length hides my boots._

The Doctor looked up at her, his eyebrows shooting upwards. “Blimey.” He rubbed a hand over his short hair, “You look beautiful.” He paused, “Considering.” He amended.

Rose felt her cheeks flush red, “Considering what!”

“Well…” he hesitated, “That you’re human.”

“I’m flattered.” She responded sarcastically. A part of her felt irritated with being referred to so dismissively as a human. Each time the Doctor made a remark about ‘her lot’ it felt like there was an itch under her skin that she couldn’t quite scratch. “Well, you best enjoy it while you can. You’re not getting me in a dress again. It’s a safety hazard.”

“You’re telling me.” He muttered.

Darting towards the door, “It’s my turn; you’ve had plenty of opportunities.”  She blinked in surprise at the feel of snow crunching under her foot. The chilly air carried a cool clean scent and the heavy clouds seemed laden with the weight of more snow. She closed her eyes and took deep breathes. _So this is what it is to be in another time._ She felt quite giddy. _Imagine all of the things you could do with the ability to travel in time, all the things you could see._ The drumming started up again in her head, wincing slightly she rubbed her forehead. _Think of all that you could conquer._ She shuddered at the intrusive thought. _Definitely not how I’m going to spend my time._

The Doctor had followed after her. “Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860." He puffed his chest out proudly.

She smiled brightly, “I never thought I would be spending Christmas Eve in the past. A single moment in time that happens only once. You can see moments which are dead and gone. Does it ever get lonely?”

His smile faltered as he shifted his feet, looking at her intently, “Well, I’ve got you now. I have a funny feeling that you aren’t going to let me get rid of you.”

Punching him lightly, “Too right. This is my life now.”

The soft sound of Christmas carols floated on the breeze, everything about this moment felt so perfect. The Doctor looped his arm through her own giving a mocking semi-bow to which she scoffed lightly. The Doctor snatched a newspaper off of a nearby bench, he shook it out and frowned at it. “I got the flight a bit wrong.”

“So what?”

“It’s not 1860, it’s 1869.”

“And?” She teased.

He looked sheepish, “It’s not Naples either. We’re in Cardiff”

Laughing loudly, “How on Earth did you pass your driving test?”

He smirked, “Whoever said anything about passing it.”

Rose cast her eyes around the dim, lamp-lit streets. “Say, how are we going to speak to anyone. I don’t know a word of Welsh.”

The Doctor looked amused. “And yet you didn’t ask how you were able to speak to the aliens on Platform One.”

“I didn’t think of that. “She shrugged. “I was preoccupied.”

“The TARDIS’s translation matrix operates as an interface, she translates any known language in the universe.”

 _I feel like I should be concerned that a machine can so easily get inside my head. But she doesn’t feel malevolent. The TARDIS feels kind and warm. Is it really a bad thing?_ Then a disturbing thought occurred to her.

“She can’t like read my mind or anything, right?”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed, “Not unless you want her to. Why?”

“Just curious.” She mumbles. There’s an awful lot in her head that was in the best interest of everyone if it stayed there.  What would the Doctor think of her dreams? She occasionally caught the surprised looks on his face when she let slip information she shouldn’t have known. _Maybe I should just ask him about it._

Suddenly a loud scream ripped through the air, shattering the peacefulness. She felt affection race through her as she noticed the Doctor’s eyes light up. _He can’t stay away from trouble that one._

“That's more like it!”

0o0o0o0o0o0o

She grasped the Doctor’s hand tightly as he lead her in the direction of the scream towards a theatre, great crowds of people were racing out of it with mixed looks of terror and awe on their faces. Upon entry, they saw vibrant blue vapour rise from a fallen body and thrash wildly in the air before disappearing into a lantern.

“Fantastic.” Exclaimed the Doctor excitedly. He turned towards a bearded man who glared down at them angrily. “Did you see where it came from?”

The man’s eyes narrowed “Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he? I trust you're satisfied, sir!”

Rose was more interested in the unusual pair attempting to remove the body in question. A young woman with curly hair escaping her cap ended up losing her hold on the body, only to be scolded by the older man. Following them outside of the theatre she called after them, “What're you doing?”

The middle-aged man blustered, “Nothing for you to concern your pretty little head about, I assure you.”

Her nose wrinkled at his dismissive tone as she approached the body. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Oh, it's a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself. Me and the master will deal with it. The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary.” The servant girl spoke rapidly.

Rose placed her hand on the woman’s forehead. She recoiled at the absence of warmth. “She’s dead! What are yo-” She was cut off when a dirty rag was shoved into her mouth, her cries for help were muffled as her struggling grew weaker. With one last attempt to push the man behind her away, she finally passed out.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

 **“How pitiful. This is the second time we’ve been rendered unconscious so easily. I suggest you try harder.”** A dark voice echoed in her mind on the edge of unconsciousness, it stirred her from her sleep. She stretched out feeling her neck click; rubbing it she swung to her feet and cast her eyes around the room. The only noticeable pieces of furniture save the tables were a pair of large black coffins.

The lid of one coffin rose, revealing a young man. Shadows were ingrained deeply under his eyes. The eyes themselves lacked any colour, they stared at her hollowly without a flicker of emotion.

“Hello?” She called to him hesitantly, seeing no apparent recognition. “I have a feeling you’re not the friendly type.” With that, she spun on her heel to the door. She flinched when she saw him reach his arms out. A second figure rose from the other coffin. It was the body of the old lady she saw back in the theatre.

“Bloody cliché zombies.” She wrenched the door handle, it refused to give. “Why does this always happen.” Feeling desperate she began to hammer on the door. “Open the door! Let me out!” Hearing voices on the other side encouraged her. “Somebody open the door!” She cast an anxious look behind her to the advancing ‘zombies.’ She shrieked as a hand grasped her shoulder, frozen fingers made their way to her neck. Rose’s pulse jumped rapidly.

The door buckled and Rose was pushed away by the force. A firm warm grasp pulled her away from the deadened hands. “I think this is my dance.” The jovial tone was undermined by the apparent fury across his face.

“It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence.” The same bearded man from earlier blathered.

“No, we're not. The dead are walking.” He pulled Rose closer into his body and shifted his arms to steady her. “Hi.” She was gifted with a brief smile and flash of relief.

“You took your time.” She responded, “Where did you pick up that one?” She gestured to the man behind him.

“Oh, that’s Charles Dickens. I found him at the theatre. Nice bloke.”

“Right…Charles Dickens.” It was still surprising how simply the Doctor could state what normally would seem such an absurd statement.

The Doctor released her and gently moved her behind him to face the 'not quite deceased'. “My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?”

The male’s mouth opened, multiple voices overlaying each other responded, “Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us.” Their desperate plea ended with a pained cry. Cerulean gas billowed out of both of their mouths leaving their bodies to crumple to the ground, discarded.

0o0o0o0o0o

Rose sat in the living room glowering at the man she now knew as Mr Sneed. “First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man.” She spat.

“I will not be spoken to like this!” he retorted indignantly. His face turned puce.

Rose held a hand up to silence him. “Did you really think you could get away with leaving me in a room of zombies, to die.” Her voice grew lower as the drums hammered in the back of her head angrily, “Did you think there wouldn’t be consequences. You filthy little…” She paused seeing the Doctor’s look of concern. She blinked and most of the anger dissipated. “Just tell us what’s going on.”

“It's not my fault. It's this house. It always had a reputation.” He paused, bringing a hand to his mouth. “Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs.” He glanced over at a disapproving Charles Dickens. “The er... dearly departed started getting restless. 

“Tommyrot.” Dickens rebuked, “Such things cannot be explained within the boundaries of science.”

“You’d be surprised what science can and can’t explain.” The Doctor remarked.

Rose noticed how the servant girl kept casting nervous glances in her direction, there was something fearful in the way she regarded her. _What’s her problem?_ Her eyes followed her retreating figure curiously. _Perhaps it’s time we had a chat._

Leaving the living room she made her way to the pantry. The lamps cast flickering shadows on the walls that filled her with unease. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced.” She called out.

Rose watched the woman flinch. “Gwyneth, Miss.” She tilted her head downwards submissively.

Rose tapped her fingers across the surface of the table; she missed the feel of her pocket watch in her jeans pocket. “Well, I’m Rose. It’s nice to meet you.”

Gwyneth straightened her apron, her eyes darted to the door behind Rose as if calculating whether or not she could escape. This filled Rose with unease, _why is she so afraid?_

“I’m afraid I have a lot of work to do Miss. If you would be so kind as to join your friend in the other room.”

“Why?” She asked bluntly.

“Miss T-Tyler…” the poor woman stuttered.

Rose frowned, “How do you know my surname, I never told you that.”

Gwyneth began to busy herself with arranging the crockery, she turned away from Rose. “Sometimes I know things I cannot explain.”

A pang raced through her as she felt a wave of pity. “Yeah, sometimes that happens to me too.”

Gwyneth turned back around to face her; her eyes glinted with righteousness, “Begging your pardon Miss but we are nothing alike.”

Heat flared in her cheeks, _what could I possibly have done to get her to dislike me so much?_ “I’m sorry if I’ve said something to upset you. I really didn’t mean to.”

The woman’s eyes glazed over as she looked in Rose’s direction, “It’s what you’ve already done and will do so again. The lost child, cruelly discarded by fate, the never-ending drums.” Her voice grew faint. A hand reached out to grip her own, “The Big Bad Wolf.”

Rose detached her easily, more shaken by her words than her actions. Her mind screamed in protest, _how can she know about the drums, what does she mean ‘what you’ve already done.’ I refuse to believe this is all true. I’ve done nothing to warrant such distrust._

“I’m sorry.” Gwyneth whispers quietly, “It’s not like you can control any of it. I pray to God’s benevolence that he might grant you mercy.”

Rose swallowed loudly, feeling even worse.

“I can’t always control it.”

“But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?” A deep voice intruded from the hallway causing Rose to Jump. _How much did he hear?_ She tried to gauge his reaction but the Doctor’s face was unfortunately blank.

“All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head.” Gwyneth responded miserably.

 “You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key.”

“I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts.” She trailed off.

“Is that so. I guess it will stand us in good stead for the séance.”

“Séance?” Rose blinked.

“Yep.” He popped the ‘p’, smiling softly as he grabbed Rose’s hand, “Come on before that lot dies of boredom.”

0o0o0o0o0o0

The lights were dim, each frightened face was illuminated by a single candle in the centre of the table. It had taken a mixture of careful persuasion and not so careful goading before everyone was willing to take part.

“ Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden.” Whispers began to fill the room. It took all of Rose’s will to not turn around and seek out the apparent source of the sound.

“Can you hear that?” Rose asked tentatively.

“Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly.” Came the ever joyful voice of Dickens. _Why is he here again?_

“I see them. I feel them.” Gwyneth choked out. Tendrils of vivid blue gas began to twist above their heads, they reached out for Gwyneth.

“They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it.” He sent her a reassuring smile. “Now, look deep. Allow them through.”

“I can't!” She sobbed, her distress was palpable.

 “Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link.” The Doctor urged.

“Yes.” She sighed, her body growing lax. Faint blue figures appeared behind her.

“Great God! Spirits from the other side.” Gasped an astounded Mr Sneed.

“The other side of the universe.” The Doctor corrected.

 “Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us.” Childish voices called out.  It sent shivers racing down Rose’s spine.

The Doctor gazed at the figures, completely mesmerized. “What do you want us to do?”

“The Rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge.”

“What for?”

“We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction.” The figures seemed to turn slightly to appraise the Doctor. “Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came.”

Dickens seemed equally entranced with the Gelth, “War? What war?”

“The Time War. The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state.”

Rose froze.  _Time War._ Familiar words which caused her hands to shake and her grip to tighten. Her vision blurred. Proud draconian figures danced behind her eyes lids, decimated until they were nought but smoke. A shrill metallic voice called out from the darkness **“Extermi-”**

“So that's why you need the corpses.” The Doctor stated. Rose’s eyes snapped to his ashen face, his hand gripped her own just as tightly.

“We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us.” They pleaded. “Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth.” The bluish gas raced towards the gas lamps leaving an exhausted Gwyneth to collapse across the tabletop.  

0o0o0o0o0o0

Rose was dimly aware of the Doctor explaining the situation to the others. She was still shaken from what happened earlier, the vice grip of fear and the alarming visions. _Ever since I met the Doctor it’s become worse._

“Which is why they need the girl.” Dickens chimed in.

Rose’s head snapped up at this, she rubbed her shoulder gently where one of the Gelth had gripped her earlier. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“What do you mean?” The Doctor frowned at her, “She can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through.”

“I don’t deny that Gwyneth could do it. But I’m really not sure that she should.” Rose insisted.

The Doctor grew tense, his arms folded angrily as he regarded her with disappointment. “I thought you were better than this Rose. What does it matter if they use the bodies of the dead? It’s like recycling.”

“That isn’t the problem.” She raised her voice.

He threw his arms up in the air, “Then what is, I get that it’s a different morality but if you can’t get used to it then go home.”

Her eyes began to prickle. “They tried to kill me when I was locked in that room. Do you really think it’s a good idea to release that lot onto the unsuspecting public?”

“They were scared.” He argued, “I’m sure you lash out when you’re afraid.”

_He isn’t listening at all. Does my opinion mean nothing to him?_

“Don't I get a say, Miss?” Gwyneth asked, finally regaining consciousness. “My angels need me. Doctor what do I need to do”

“You don't have to do anything.” He reminded her gently.

“They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my Mam on a holy mission. So tell me.” She replied with determination.

“We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other.” He turned to Mr Sneed. “Mr Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?”

“That would be the morgue.” He answered.

“Do none of you think this is a bad idea?” Rose asked. Only for the Doctor to ignore her. Gwyneth shook her head and marched on past.

0o0o0o0o

“Urgh.” He groaned, “Talk about Bleak House.” 

Rose couldn’t bring herself to smile at his pun. _Self-righteous bastard._ White sheets covered the surfaces of most of the room’s tables as they approached a large concrete archway. The Gelth began to appear, hovering over the archway.

“You’ve come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him.” Blue figures flickered in and out of existence.

“Look, we can stop this now.” She pleaded, “Please just leave.”

The Doctor sighed, “I can’t Rose, they’re victims of a war I’m responsible for. The least I can do is help them.”

“Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth.”

  
“I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?” He called out.

 Gwyneth approached the arch with her arms outstretched as she beckoned the Gelth into the world. “Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!”

“It is begun. The bridge is made.” Blue gas poured non-stop out of the woman’s mouth, it flooded the room like a tidal wave. “She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend.” Suddenly the blue apparition turned molten, flame-like tendrils spread from its ghostly form. In a deeper voice, it exclaimed: “The Gelth will come through in force.”

“You said you were few in number.” Dickens challenged as he edged away from the spectacle.  
  
“A few billion.” It retorted, “And all of us in need of corpses.” With that bodies began to rise from beneath the sheets scattered around the room. Mr Sneed tried to reason with Gwyneth, only to have his neck snapped viciously and the same deep echoing voice rang out from the new corpse.

“I think it's gone a little bit wrong.” The Doctor muttered, grabbing Roses arm and retreating.

“Oh, you think.” She snapped. They were backed slowly against a large metal gate, pushing it open they pulled the latch down to prevent the Gelth from entering. Rose rather wished that she didn’t have to see the corpse’s rotting arms reach through the bars towards her.

“Doctor, I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me.” Dickens turned and fled from the room as fast as possible.

“Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth.”

“I trusted you. I pitied you!” Despair tinged his voice.

 “We don't want your pity. We want this world and all its flesh.” 

“Not while I'm alive.”

“Then live no more.” 

0o0o0o0o0

“I guess it’s like you said before. Time is malleable. I suppose it will be like I never existed.”

The Doctor’s face twisted with grief, “I’m so sorry Rose. I let them get inside my head. I just wanted to make things right.”

Rose slid to the ground, uncaring of how filthy her dress now was. “You didn’t listen to me.”

Such ancient sorrow in the Doctor’s gaze sought out her compassion. “I know. I keep messing things up with you. This is all my fault.”

“Assigning blame won’t fix things.” _I guess this is the price. The price for running off with a madman in a box. Oh God, what will my Mum do? She’ll never see me again._ She shivered. _Da da day dum, da da day dum._ The drums echoed hungrily. _What am I supposed to do? Am I really going to die here?_

“I saw the fall of Troy, World War Five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party. Now I'm going to die in a dungeon in Cardiff.” The Doctor’s voice sounded somewhat hysterical.

“I’m a nobody who couldn’t complete their A-levels. I ran off with a loser in a band and I will never even get the chance to accomplish anything.” Rose replied.

“No.” The Doctor crouched down to wrap his arm around her, “You Rose Tyler are brilliant. Who was it that stopped the Autons?” She buried her head in his jacket, “And who saved Jabe from being burnt alive?”

“I’m not a hero, Doctor. Sometimes I don’t even think I’m a good person.” She whispered desolately.

“There is no such thing as good and bad people, only circumstances and decisions.” He stroked her hair softly.

“What if you choose all of the wrong ones?”

“It’s something you have to learn to live with.”

She breathed deeply, “It isn’t your fault that they manipulated you. You wanted to help.”

“I’ll be happy to live with the consequences of my actions, if we actually _live_ through this.”

Icy blue eyes met hers determinedly. Rose squeezed his hand. “No matter what happens…we’re in this together.”

“I'm so glad I met you.” His words filled her chest with warmth. A warmth that part of her mind rebelled against. She ignored the uneasiness and returned his sentiment.

 “Doctor! Doctor!” Rose started at the sudden appearance of Dickens. “Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now!” He demanded.

“What're you doing?” The Doctor asked in wonder.

“Turn it all on. Flood the place!” He raced over to the nearest lamp, Rose could make out the low hiss of gas escaping.

“Oh wonderful, we’re going to choke to death instead of starving in here.”  
  
“No Rose. If you fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound.”

  
“ I hope, oh Lord, I hope that this theory will be validated soon, if not immediately,” Dickens muttered as he stared apprehensively at the shambling corpses.   
  
Helping the Doctor rip open a gas pipe she watched in amazement as the bodies began to drop to the ground. _I feel kind f bad for dismissing Dickens so much, especially seeing as he’s saved our lives._

“Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels.” The Doctor told her earnestly.

  
“Liars?” her voice was so faint, her face lily white.

Rose could barely pay attention to what he was saying, her lungs ached fiercely and her vision began to swim. She wanted to help Gwyneth but it took most of her effort to even remain standing. She vaguely heard the Doctor instruct Dickens to help her out.

Freezing air hit her burning cheeks. Her knees protested at the sudden shock of the cold snow as she stumbled to the ground. _I nearly died today._

A loud bang rang out behind her as she saw flames engulf the building she had just left. The Doctor ran towards her, his mouth set in a grim line.

“She didn’t make it.” She stated. Not a question.

“I’m sorry Rose, she was already dead from the moment she stepped under that arch.”

“How is that possible?”

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor.” Charles Dickens claimed wisely.

And yet in spite of her admiration for Gwyneth’s courage and her sorrow at her passing, a greater part of her was relieved. _If Gwyneth was tricked by the Gelth into believing they were angels then surely all of those things she said about me won’t come to pass._

They gave their farewells to Charles Dickens and reentered the TARDIS.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Rose perched awkwardly on one of the TARDIS’ jump seats. The Doctor tinkering away at the control panel, occasionally giving her indiscernible looks. The sudden surge of her dreams and vivid daydreams were frankly frightening. They hadn’t been this bad since before she had gained her last therapist. His relaxation techniques had been an integral part of her understanding and moving past her dreams. In the light of her adventures with the Doctor, specifically the existence of the TARDIS, something she had once drawn as a child; Rose was unsure what to think.

“Is something wrong?” The Doctor asked quietly.

“Just thinking.”

“Anything I can help with?” he offered.

She smiled, “Not unless you have a way of contacting Earth from all the way out here.” She gestured around the room.

He grinned, “As a matter of fact I do, give us your phone.”

Shrugging she handed it over. The Doctor ran his sonic screwdriver over it before triumphantly returning it. “There we go. You can contact anyone in the universe, from anywhere in the universe. A hell of a boost don’t you think?”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” His brows scrunched together, “Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do. If you need to talk…”

She shook her head, “There’s just some…stuff I need to work out.

0o0o0o0o

She listened to the dial tone before counting the number of ‘rings.’ One, two, three, four…

 

 

 

“Hello? This is Doctor Smith speaking.”


	5. Aliens of London: It's Not My Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aliens of London, not much content in regards to the Master but there are small smatterings.

“Hello? This is Doctor Smith speaking.”  The cheerful voice on the other side chimed.

Rose breathed heavily, uncertain what to say. Her fingernails tapped against the phone gently whilst her mind clouded over _. I really should have rehearsed what I was going to say._ She thought mournfully.

“This is Rose isn’t it?” The voice on the other end asked hesitantly.

“Yes.” She croaked out.

“Ah, what can I do for you, Miss Tyler?”

Rose’s free hand went to fiddle with her Fob watch. Irrationally she had felt anxious being parted with it whilst wearing her Victorian gown. “The dreams are back.”

“I see.” He paused. “Have you been maintaining your exercises? It is important to clear your mind at night. If you indulge your fantasies they will become more vivid.”

Rose let out a frustrated hiss, “I’m not indulging them, I’m practically inviting them on a date and dancing the tango with them. The blue box I dreamed of, I’ve seen it in real life and I’m not the only one.”

He was silent for a while. “A blue box, like the one you drew as a child? I’m afraid there is little I can do to help you then.”

Her blood turned cold. “What do you mean; it’s your job to help me.”

"It has been my honour to aid you Rose Tyler. However, I’m afraid that any therapy I offer you shall be in vain, especially since you have become acquainted with the subject of your dreams. Your dreams will continue so long as you are in contact with the stimuli that triggered them.”

_Is he trying to say that I would have to give up travelling with the Doctor? I can’t do that. I mustn’t. Besides the dreams aren’t always bad, just strange. Why can’t he just help me?_

“The things I dreamed about are real. The TARDIS is real, I can’t just leave it all behind.”

“I know.” He soothed, “If they are as real as you say then surely you do not need therapy. Reality is easily mistaken for fiction.”

Rose began to feel uneasy. She had known Dr Smith for roughly eight years. Her mother had brought her to a number of Doctors due to her nightmares, gruesome alien attacks and destruction. Sometimes they were so bad, she spaced out during the day and they continued.  Dr Smith had recommended she draw the things she saw to help understand them.  He had listened attentively when she had created names for these beings and comforted her when she cried. Now he was throwing her away. What kind of a professional encouraged her acceptance of these delusions?

“I don’t understand. Shouldn’t you be trying to medicate me? I’m telling you I have seen aliens and spaceships. Surely that isn’t normal.” She insisted.

“I believe you Rose Tyler.” He let out a long sigh. “And I am sorry, so very sorry.”

“For what?”

“Things won’t be easy for you. It’s hard to make the right choices; but you have to remember, no matter what, you must seek the truth. Grudges and hatred are greater tragedies when based upon fallacies.” She heard him breathe out softly, “I have to go now, but I will always be there when you need me.”

_Nothing makes sense, for years he has been my therapist. Now he’s telling me to accept my new reality. Did he know all of this was real before? Why would he keep that a secret from me?_ Her chest ached and her eyes watered. She felt betrayed. Dr Smith was her friend, he listened to her without ridicule and now he’s gone.

Gazing at her phone Rose scrolled through her contacts. _I haven’t spoken to Mum since I left the flat for my date with Mickey._ It was strange. When she travelled with the Doctor everything about her life faded away. It became unimportant. Sadly that included her mother. _I feel guilty for forgetting about her, I haven’t called her once. Out here seeing the universe, it’s like I forgot I even had a mother. I’m such a bad daughter._

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Rose burst out of the TARDIS, she breathed in the stale musty air of London. _Home sweet home._ Her eyes flickered over the graffiti-covered walls and she smiled slightly at the distant shouts of a group of youths. _Everything is the same here._ The Doctor stood in the doorway of the TARDIS with his arms crossed, his expression was almost surly.

“Are we going to be here long?”

“I need to check in with my Mum.” She shrugged a hoodie on over her shoulders. “How long have I been gone?”

A look of pride crossed his face as he closed the TARDIS door, “Oh, about twelve hours.”

“Are you certain on that one?” She teased. “Not in Wales are we?”

“See for yourself.” He huffed.

The Doctor watched Rose race off with a fond expression.  A streak of pink against grey. _What am I going to do with that girl?_ He remembered the way she had held his hand back in the morgue, the desperation across her face, the will to survive. She was so alive, so human but not. Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of sadness in her honey tinted brown eyes. There was empathy. It should have been sympathy. When he spoke of the War, of his planet there was understanding in her eyes. It was impossible. _Who are you Rose Tyler?_ This human had a secret, he could see it in the guarded way she held herself and yet she was kind. She had saved Jabe, had forgiven him for believing the Gelth over her. She had been so sad after Gwyneth died, sad and contemplative. He wished she would reach out to him.

0o0o0o0o0

**“** I'm back!” Rose called out, locking the door behind her. “I was at Mickey’s, I fell asleep watching a movie.” She lied. She turned the corner only to see her mother gawping at her. Her hair was unkempt and her pink bathrobe stained carelessly. The mug her mother had been gripping fell from her hand, tea trickled across the floor as it shattered loudly.

“It’s you.” Her mother whispers.

“Were you expecting someone else?” Her joke fell flat as uneasiness seeped into her bones.

“Oh, my God. It's you. Oh, my God.” She chanted it like a prayer, clutching her daughter tightly as tears streamed from her eyes. Tacky blue makeup ran across her cheeks. “Oh, Rose.”

Rose, not one for hugging, patted her mother awkwardly. Her gaze landed on the table, littered with flyers. Flyers with her face plastered across them. **Rose Tyler has been missing from her home on the Powell Estate since 6th March 2005.** _For God’s sake._

The front door burst open, a bedraggled Doctor raced into the kitchen. “It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year.” He spoke in a rush. “Sorry.” He tacked on apologetically after taking in the tearful expression of Jackie Tyler.

0o0o0o0o0o0

“The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own. I thought you were dead, and where were you? Travelling.” Her mother continued to rant to the police officer. “What the hell does that mean, travelling? That's no sort of answer. You ask her.” She gestured rudely in Rose’s direction, “She won't tell me. That's all she says. Travelling.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “That's what I was doing.”

Her mother whirled around, her face flushed red, “When your passport's still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another.” She grabbed Rose’s shoulders, “You could have at least called me.” A sharp twinge of regret raced up Rose’s spine.

“Actually, it's my fault. I sort of er, employed Rose as my companion.” He Doctor intervened after seeing Rose glare at him balefully.

“When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?” Asked the officer.

Heat raced to Rose’s face. “No!” She cried in unison with an equally flustered Doctor. She hadn’t thought of the Doctor in that sense, he was a friend, an enigma. Part of her was fascinated with him whilst another part of her was intimidated. He was wholly other than anyone she had ever met. It was as if she was caught up in his gravity.

“Then what is it? Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth! How old are you then? Forty? Forty-five?” Her mother advances on the Doctor. “What, did you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?”

“I am a Doctor!” He replied in indignation.

“Prove it.” She snarled, “Stitch this, mate!” She brought her hand down across the alarmed Time Lords’ face, leaving him blustering.  
  
Rose’s head started to ache, a low drumming starting up in the back of her mind, _da da day dum._ Her eyes narrowed as she scowled at her mother. _As if she has the right to strike him, a lowly human…_ Rose froze, unsure where her train of thought was going. “I need some air.” She called out and slipped out on to the rooftop.

0o0o0o0o0

Rose swung her legs back and forth with a maudlin expression. “What am I supposed to tell her? I doubt she’d believe any of this, she never did before.”

The Doctor frowned, catching the end of her sentence, “What do you mean by that?”

Rose blinked, “You know, normal stuff. Anyway, did I miss much whilst I was gone?”

“Mmh, Middling.” He decided to file his enquiry to the back of his mind for later, part of the ever-growing list of questions about Rose Tyler.

“Ugh. You’re so useless.”

He tensed, “Well if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?”

“No.”She replied instantly without thinking. She stated it so vehemently that the Doctor raised his eyebrows. “I can’t just go back there. There is nothing there for me; it’s all so empty, so monochrome.”

“Not even your mother?”

She shook her head, “She’s content with her life, she doesn’t need something more.”

He reached out to take her hand, he squeezed it gently. “I suppose not everyone’s cut out for this life. Mind you, even if your mother thought she was I wouldn’t be bringing her. I don’t do families.”

It was said jokingly but there was a touch of sadness in his eyes. “Not ever?” She asked.

“Not anymore.”

The uneasy silence was broken by the whirr of machinery and a sound similar to a fog horn. A large ship of roundish proportions sputtered, black smoke poured into the air. It seemed to lose momentum, weaving dramatically past Tower Bridge and St Paul’s. At last, it crashed into the Clock Tower, letting out one last chime the face of Big Ben was left in ruins. The spaceship plummeted into the Thames.

Rose smiled helplessly as she watched glee cross the Doctor’s face, the utter delight and curiosity taking hold of him made her fell strangely warm.

“Fantastic.”

0o0o0o0o0o

After unsuccessfully fighting the crowds and being held back by military personnel Rose suggested they watch the proceedings on TV. The Doctor seemed bemused by the idea as if he couldn’t comprehend ever doing something so _domestic_.

“I've got no choice.” Jackie cut through the clamouring voices of the news report. She busied herself providing drinks for everyone, shooting the occasional dirty look at the Doctor. “I'm not going to make him welcome.”

“Oi, I'm trying to listen.”  The man in question complained, focusing on the TV intently.  
  
**“They've found a body. It's unconfirmed, but I'm being told a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore."**

Rose snickered, seeing the Doctor attempt unsuccessfully to wrestle the remote from a toddler. _The Oncoming Storm, bested by a child._ She shook her head rapidly, _where did that come from? Weird name._  
  
**“Albion Hospital.”** The reporter continued. **“We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything. But the body has been brought here, Albion Hospital. The road's closed off. It's the closest to the river."**

After the broadcast finished the Doctor jumped to his feet eagerly and raced out of the flat with a disgruntled Rose right behind him. She panted for breath slightly as they drew closer to the TARDIS.

“Going somewhere?” She arched an eyebrow.

“Who, me?” he asked innocently.

“I don’t see anyone else running off to their time machine after seeing an alien invasion.”

He blinked, “That’s a tad strong, more of a crash landing.”

_Yes, because all races come in peace,_ she thought wryly. “Then where exactly are you going?”

He gave her a faux-wounded look, “I’m just off for a wander, I’ll be right back.”

“You can’t just leave me here.” She meant for her words to sound more demanding, instead, it sounded more like a plea. The Doctor’s forehead creased as he regarded her solemnly.

He moved closer to her, “You do that a lot you know.”

“What?”

“You act like I’m just going to leave in a blink of an eye. You grow tense whenever I mention returning to Earth.”He grasped her hand. “I’m, not going to leave you, Rose, really I’m not.”

She swallowed, “I know that.” In a quiet voice.

“Go spend time with your Mum; I’ll be back in a mo.” He hesitated for a moment. “Here you can have this.” He offered her a small golden key on a chain. “Passenger’s privilege.”

0o0o0o0o0

Rose was furious. She didn’t know if she was more upset with the Doctor or herself. _If I keep clinging to him, he’s going to think I’m pathetic._ But the Doctor was right. She couldn’t quite escape the fear that he was going to leave her. _What do I have to offer him? I’m just an ordinary, stupid human._ She trailed back to the flat morosely. _What am I going to do about Mum? If I really had to choose then I really can’t make myself give up the Doctor._

“Here's to the Martians!” Cheered her mother raising a glass in the air. The sentiment was echoed by the other bored housewives. It was almost sickening in a way. Eager eyes glued to the TV, hungry for any scrap of information. Rose chided herself for being so judgmental, _after all, it wasn’t so long ago that I was just as oblivious as they are._

The door slammed loudly. There stood Mickey, his hands clenched by his side as he shot her a look, equal parts desperation and betrayal.

“Mickey.” She breathed. She really hadn’t given much thought to her boyfriend. Dutiful Mickey with his declarations of love she felt so hesitant to accept. Mickey with his easy smiles and boisterous laughter. Her stomach twisted at the sight of him.  
  
Ru from across the road shared a look with Jackie. “Somebody owes him an apology.

Rose felt even worse. “I-Mickey…”

 “Not you.” Ru gestured towards her mother, rudely waving a plump finger.

  
“Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?” She defended herself, placing her hands on her hips. Her defiant expression wavered. She bit her lip, glancing at Mickey.

  
By unspoken communication Rose found herself reluctantly following her mother and Mickey into the privacy of the kitchen, she felt uneasy without the buffer of strangers to keep her mother from prying.

Mickey moved closer to her causing Rose to flinch slightly. With a hurt expression, he stepped back. “You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. Five times I was taken in for questioning.” His voice grew louder. “Five times. No evidence. Course, there couldn't be, could there? And then I get her, your mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger. Stuff through my letterbox, and all 'cos of you.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly intend to be gone for a whole year.” She replied sarcastically.

 “And I waited for you, Rose.” His eyes shone with emotion. “Twelve months, waiting for you and the Doctor to come back.”

Rose winced as she saw the recognition flash across her mother’s face. “Hold on. You knew about the Doctor? Why didn't you tell me?” _Here we go._

With a pointed look at Rose, he pushed the kitchen hatch shut, spinning back around in an overly exaggerated manner, “Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? How could I tell her where you went?”

“Don’t Mickey.” It came out harsher than she intended.”

“Tell me now. “ Her mother demanded.

“I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now. That box thing just faded away.” There was a sick sort of glee in his voice as he informed her.

“I already know Mickey.” She wouldn’t let him shake her, “He’ll be back soon.”

Mickey grabbed her wrist, yanking her towards the window, “See out there Rose. Aliens, adventure. Since this new boyfriend of yours is so clever, don’t you think he’s more concerned with other things than you?” His face drew closer, “You're just like the rest of us Rose, the sooner you give up on the Doctor the better.”

“I am nothing like you.” Her voice sounded dark, full of hidden promises. Even she was unclear what exactly she was promising.

0o0o0o0o0

_He promised,_ she repeated to herself over and over again. A mantra. _I have a key; he isn’t going to leave me._ She shuddered as her head started to ache again. It was a shame she couldn’t take aspirin, she seemed to have a funny reaction to it.

“Like I said, your Doctor is gone.” Mocked Mickey.

“Would you just shut up!” Rose Snapped. She had to count to ten…twice.

Her mother had trailed after them, constantly throwing out questions about the Doctor, questions that she didn’t even know the answers to herself. “Sweetheart, please. I’m worried. You disappeared off into thin air for a whole year and I find out there’s some kind of conspiracy that that one, “ She gestured to Mickey, “has been in on as well.”

“Don’t involve me.” He protested.

Rose had been toying with the key on her necklace; it was comforting in a way, almost as comforting as playing with her Fob watch chain. She frowns as the key became warmer. Rose regarded it with surprise as it began to glow in her hands. _Oh, Mum really shouldn’t be around for this._ She shot Mickey a smug look to which he let out a resigned sigh. “Mum, you should go back inside, its getting cold.” A familiar whooshing sound hit the air; papers began to rush past them. “Seriously Mum, go inside!”

Her mother stayed rooted to the spot. The TARDIS fully materialized before her eyes. _That’s just great._

Jackie turned to her daughter with a dazed expression. “You didn’t say ‘e was a magician, Rose.”

Rose allowed the familiar humming of the TARDIS to wash over her. Her headache began to calm down. Another was clearly beginning. She shook her head as she saw her mother poke at the main console.

The Doctor seemed rather pleased with himself. He was beaming at her. “I went and had a look, just like I said. But the whole crash landing's a fake.” He spoke quickly whizzing around the console, apparently oblivious to her mother’s gawping. “ I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on.”

Rose coughed loudly and tilted her head in her mother’s direction.

His smile faded instantly, “Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic.”

Rose huffed. “Since you’re the one who showed her the TARDIS isn’t it up to you to explain? Isn’t there like some kind of Prime Directive you have to follow?”

He looked torn between amusement and indignation, “The Shadow Proclamation.” He corrected, “And no, I don’t have to tell her a thing.”

“Peachy,” Rose muttered.

Suddenly Mickey was springing forward, jabbing a finger into the Doctor’s arm, “You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you.”

 He sighed, “You see what I mean? Domestic.”

“Since when were murder charges, casual domestics?” Rose asked.

He grinned, “That’s nothing compared to what happened on Delterama, charged with twelve separate offences just because I told them I didn’t like salad.”

She rolled her eyes. She had the unfortunate feeling she would be doing that a lot in the future.

“If we could get back to the matter at hand.” Groundout, Mickey. “I bet you don’t even remember my name.”

 “Rickey.” The Doctor responded barely paying attention to the incensed man.

“It’s Mickey.” He hissed.

The Doctor finally looked at him, “No, it’s Rickey.” He simply smiled at Rose’s questioning look.

“I think I know my own name.” His face was flushed as he glowered at the source of his agitation.

“You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?” He mocked.

In the corner of her eye, Rose noticed her mother exiting the TARDIS silently. _I should really go after her._ She paused, _then again, what is she going to do?_ She turned back to face Mickey and the Doctor. _It’s scary how easy it would be to just ask him to leave. To avoid this whole mess with my mother. He would do it too, what with his hatred of domestics. But I can’t do that. I really shouldn’t want to do that. Mum deserves an explanation, so does Mickey; both of them care about me. I’m so selfish._

Rose cleared her throat, “So, that was a real spaceship then?”

Immediately the Doctor’s attention was back on her, it made her chest feel warm. “Oh yes.”

“So are they invading or just passing through?”

“Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert,” Mickey grumbled, determined to not be left out.

  
“Good point!" The Doctor seemed disgruntled when he realized he had just complimented Mickey. “So, what're they up to?”

Rose wandered off to one of the jump seats, her fingers gently stroked along the TARDIS’ coral, warmth suffused through her mind in response. _Mmh, like a mental hug._ She was making a deliberate effort to ignore the Doctor and Mickey’s bickering. _What am I going to do?_ She felt a sort of buzzing sensation in her head accompanied by a chirp as if the TARDIS was trying to reassure her.

Rose tensed slightly as Mickey threw himself down into the seat next to her, “Some friend you've got.”

Steeling herself she clenched her fist, long nails pressed hard into the palm of her hands. “I’m sorry Mickey. You don’t deserve all of the crap you’ve had to put up with.”

His eyes widened, “Yeah. No shit.” He seemed to chastise himself. “What I mean is…how could you have left for so long? I waited for you, I looked every day. You're my girlfriend Rose and you just left. With him.”

Rose looked into his eyes earnestly, “If you had the chance to see the universe, planets and aliens. To find that there’s more to life than just mundane routines wouldn’t you take it?” She squeezed his hand, “Come on, you can’t say you wouldn’t be curious.”

Mickey bit his lip, “You don’t need _him_ for that. Blimey Rose, you’ve never left England. If you want to travel then get on a plane. I’d go with you. I know you’re bored; you’ve always been different to the other girls. I swear I’ll do better.” His grip tightened. “I’ve been saving up money; we can get a place of our own. You don’t need to be up there with him. Especially since we apparently have aliens on our doorstep.”

Rose began to withdraw her hand from his grasp. “I’m sorry Mickey; it’s not the same thing.” She felt awful seeing his face crumple with distress. She really was fond of Mickey, she didn’t want to hurt him but resigning herself to the confines of Earth with him forever seemed little more than a slow death.

“Got it! Ha, ha!” The Doctor crowed from across the room, “Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go. Hold on. Come on.  “He twists the monitor to face them, the screen showed the trajectory of the spaceship's descent. Rose was more curious about the circular squiggles at the sides of the screen. They were frustrating. It was like trying to remember a name, on the tip of your tongue but not quite managing it. She tuned out the circular patterns and began to pay attention to the Doctor again.

“…on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See?” He enlarged the screen. “The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed.”

“They were here, to begin with,” Rose concluded.

The Doctor beamed at her proudly, “Right you are Rose Tyler. The question is if they’ve been here a while: what are they up to?”

0o0o00o0

Rose swung her legs back and forth, her thumb stroked along the pattern of her fob watch absent mindedly as she continued to frown at the interlocking circular patterns that adorned the monitors of the TARDIS. They were definitely familiar. Her nail began to dip into the grooves of the watch.

 “How many channels do you get?” Mickey inquired.

“All the basic packages.”

“You get sports channels?”

“Yes, I get the football.” He sounded exasperated. His eyes flickered to an incoming news report, a group of military personnel had gathered outside of Downing Street. “Hold on, I know that lot.”

  **“It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space.”**

“UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people.” The Doctor declared.

Rose stiffened. They certainly sounded familiar. UNIT…where had she heard of that before? At the back of her mind, there was a flicker of an image; a man gallivanting around military outposts with a ridiculously long striped scarf. She shook her head to clear the image. “How do you know them?” She asked, finally.

 “'Cos he's worked for them.” Interrupted Mickey with a pleased look on his face. “Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead.” His statement was oddly reminiscent of Clive’s warning when Rose herself had been investigating the Doctor.

The Doctor’s mouth formed a hard line as he stared determinedly past Mickey. “That's nice. Good boy, Ricky.” A faux-affectionate voice was used as if Mickey were a precocious child.

“If you know them, why don't you go and help?” Rose suggested.

  
He shook his head. “They wouldn't recognise me. I've changed a lot since the old days.” Rose felt that there was something important underlying that statement. “ Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover.”  He cast a look around the TARDIS. “And er, I'd better keep the TARDIS out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving.”   


**[Powell Estate]**

They didn’t get particularly far. The road was blocked at one end by armoured vehicles. Soldiers were communicating via radios. Giving up attempting to drive, they all exited Mickey’s car. The noise seemed more overwhelming than usual as crowds were excitedly discussing the potential alien invasion. They hovered around the car unsure. Until suddenly the same armoured vehicles blocking the road ahead drew closer to them, cutting off the pavement. Mickey gave a yelp and scurried away from them both, no longer certain he wanted to be associated with them. Police officers approached. Armed police officers.

“Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest.”  
  
“Take me to your leader.” The Doctor replied gleefully.

“Did you have to go there?” She complained.

He shrugged. Rose had never seen someone so happy to be arrested. Not that she’d known many people who had been arrested, to begin with. They were ushered onto a police car in a surprisingly gentle manner.

“I’m not sure they can just arrest us without stating what grounds we are to be arrested on. It all seems a bit fishy if you ask me.”

The Doctor shifted in his seat, straightening his leather jacket. “Nah, we’re being escorted. Not arrested.”

“Escorted where?” Rose asked warily.

“10 Downing Street of course.”

“Hmm.” She pondered. “When I was younger I always had this ambition to become the Prime Minister. I used to make Mum help me to design posters.”

The Doctor looked like he was trying not to laugh, “You and paper work. From what you’ve told me you don’t have the patience for desk jobs.”

“I’d probably just throw it away, to be honest.” Rose watched the cameras flash as they reached their destination. “What would they want you for anyway?”

“I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times,” He grimaced, “and I've been, er, noticed. Looks like they’re gaining alien experts. Who’s the Prime Minister anyway?”

“How should I know? I missed a year, thanks to your dodgy driving.”

“I’d like to see you drive.” He challenged.

“I bet I’d do a better job than you.”

“Such cheek.”

0o0o0o0o0

Rose cast a cursory look around the main hall; there was certainly a lot of wooden panels. Dingy portraits lined the hallways of people she assumed were important but didn’t care about in the slightest. They were almost lost in a sea of people clutching their IDs. She inhaled, _ah the smell of politics: lies and desperation._  
  
“Here's your ID card.” A man stopped the Doctor offering him the card. He turned to scrutinize her. “I'm sorry; your companion doesn't have clearance.”

The Doctor frowned, pulling her towards him. It was almost amusing how much he seemed to manoeuvre her around without thinking as if she were an additional limb of his. “I don't go anywhere without her.” He stated firmly.  
  
The man looked apologetic; he tugged on his tie anxiously. “You're the code nine, not her. I'm sorry. Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay outside.”

“She’s staying with me.” His clear blue eyes silently conveyed the echoes of his previous promise. Hs refusal to abandon her.

 “Look.” The man began frustratedly. “Even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact.”

“It's all right,” Rose reassured. “You go.” It’s not like she would turn into a hopeless mess if he wasn’t holding her hand every five minutes. She just didn’t like the idea of him leaving the planet without her.

 A woman wearing a light suit approached, her movements were quick and decisive. “Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?”

“Sure.” He responded, giving her a curious glance.

“Not now.” Whined ID card man. “We're busy. Can't you go home?” 

“Don't get in any trouble.” The Doctor warned her.

“The same to you,” Rose replied. She watched him leave. His movements were leisurely. It always surprised her how easily he fit into any setting, completely undeterred.

“I'm going to have to leave you with security.” Harassed ID man decided.

“It's all right. I'll look after her.” Offered the woman in the suit. “Let me be of some use.” She latched on to Rose’s arm tightly. “Walk with me. Just keep walking.” She lowered her voice. They continued through the entrance hall, Rose’s curiosity was piqued. This woman clearly didn’t want to be overheard. “That's right. Don't look round.” _On the other hand, she could be taking me somewhere secluded to murder me._

They were now stood outside of the cabinet room which surprisingly had no security. The woman took out a card of her own. “Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North.”

Rose gave her a questioning look.

Harriet’s eyes darted around, making sure they were truly alone. “This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?”

“I would assume that the majority of people here today possess some knowledge in that area.” She responded cagily. 

Harriet clutched on to her, “Please, I need your help.” Her shoulders started to shake as tears formed, silently slipping down her cheeks.

0o0o0o0o0

_Well, I wasn’t expecting this._

Before her stood an elaborate wardrobe. It was thrown wide open. What appeared to be a body seemed to have fallen out of it. Except it was too limp. Too flat, as if all of the innards had been scooped out.

“They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!” Cried, Harriet.

“I can’t help but wonder how long it took to do that to a body. Is that a zip on the forehead?” She exclaimed, poking at the body. Harriet seemed to make a retching sound behind her. “Weird, even if the skin is fully intact you’d think it would be mottled by now.” With one last prod, she stood back up, “There must be some sort of technology involved in preserving the body.”

Harriet gave her a glassy-eyed stare. “You’re treating it like you see things like that every day.”

Rose shook her head, “No, I’m quite the amateur. Barely know a thing. We should have a look around.” A perverse part of her was curious about how these creatures could make a suit of skin; it almost overrode her own disgust. Almost.

Rose rummaged through other cupboards. There was no obvious sign of alien technology. Although she had her doubts about whether she would even recognise alien technology. She yelped as something heavy fell out of one cupboard on to her. A body. _Wonderful._

She was eager to shove it away. She blinked, recognising his face. “Is that..?”

A familiar face burst into the room. _ID man now is really not the time._

“Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander…” He trailed off noticing the body between the two women. “Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!”

Harriet was noticeably trembling next to her. Rose attempted to pat her awkwardly. _What is the protocol for discovering a dead body with a stranger? A hug, verbal reassurance?_

Once again the door creaked open; _seriously, we need to lock that door._

“Oh! Has someone been naughty?”

Rose’s nose wrinkled. A pudgy woman with short blonde hair smirked at them from the doorway. This clearly was not her day, not only did she have to explain the existence of aliens to her mother and her absence to her long-suffering boyfriend, but also her involvement with not one but two dead bodies.

ID card man was blustering to himself, pointing down at the corpse and back up at the blonde lady. “That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!”

Rose caught the sadistic tilt of her smile, the dark amusement behind her eyes. Instantly she knew they were in danger. Slowly she pulled Harriet back, her eyes scanning the room for any other exits.

“And who told you that, hmm?” Blondie simpered. “Me.” One hand rose to her forehead, revealing a zip. Eerie blue light poured out of the new orifice, it bled across the room, and a strange grating sound accompanied it.

_Yeah. It really isn’t my day._


	6. World War Three: Not So Blonde Aliens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> World War Three, Rose isn't as nice to her family as canon Rose. Not much Master but lots of confused Rose.

Smug, plump and almost definitely monstrous started to peel away her skin. Rose tried to pretend that her panic struck mind hadn’t immediately jumped to Scooby Doo villains at the sight. Its skin looked moist and fairly reminiscent of pea soup in colour. The remains of the human skin suit hung around its hips like a grotesque jacket. _Lovely._ She was regarded with large black eyes which blinked sideways, causing Rose to blink in turn becoming some twisted not quite staring match whilst Rose and the alien took it in turns to blink at one another. Harriet’s whimpers were all but forgotten.

Their impromptu blinking match was rudely interrupted when formerly blonde and menacing started to convulse, electrical charge sparking everywhere. Taking this as her cue to run she grabbed Harriet’s hand and started to leg it out of the room. If there was one talent the Doctor had managed to instill it was when all else fails, run like hell.

Harriet’s wrist started to twist within her grasp. “No, wait. They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them.” She pointed to the room behind them.

“You’re only mentioning this now!” Rose hissed back. With a growl, she dragged Harriet back like a rag-doll.

She cast a look back at the alien. It had apparently finished convulsing. _This is gonna be fun._ Darting through the corridor she sought out a distraction. Low and behold the lift door on the right slid open just as green and ugly was gaining on them.

Of course, it was the Doctor. He waved mockingly from inside the lift. “Hello there.” She rose an eyebrow and pulled Harriet away from the lift as the formerly blonde alien began to smash it’s _her?_ Fists into the closing door. They entered what appeared to be a sitting room, there were few places to hide but she recommended it to her companion anyway. There was a pair of long curtains that would do as well as a screen. She wondered what had happened to ID man, they had left the room quickly, Rose had only grabbed Harriet because she seemed the most competent of the pair, _slightly._ It wasn’t her problem, not her responsibility to look out for everyone. She frowned at how cold that sounded in her head. Of course, she was concerned, there was just a lot going on.

A raspy feminine voice called out from the doorway. “Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips.” _Yes, because that is a desirable course of action._ Rose winced and quickly darted to the curtain, the cabinet was too close to the door, she would be discovered soon.

She could hear more than one set of footprints in the room. She tried to breathe in quietly and hold her breath. Whatever was hunting her seemed like they had a lot of practice.

“My brothers.” Trilled the former/once blonde.

“Happy hunting?” Inquired a deeper voice.

“It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink.” Mildly offended Rose sniffed at her shirt failing to detect any strong discernible scent.

“Sweat and fear.” Chimed in another voice. _Yeah, real tasty._

Rose’s heart hammered in her chest, she could only hope that advanced olfactory senses were their only superior sense and not super hearing. “I can smell an old girl. Stale bird and brittle bones.”

The female decided to join in, “Mmh, and a young one, all hormones and adrenaline.” She paused for a moment. “There’s an underlying scent, something rich and complicated. Older than she looks.” Rose tried not to be weirded out by the alien; she was practically describing her as if she was a particularly obscure wine vintage. She could hear the footsteps drawing closer, the curtain was pulled back sharply, the rail screeching shrilly.

Rose flinched back from the protruding claws and enormous obsidian eyes. “No! Take me first! Take me!” A voice shrieked from across the room. Rose was impressed; she didn’t think the frail-looking women had it in her. She quickly slipped past the curtains making for the door.

A familiar leather-clad figure burst in wielding a fire extinguisher as if it were a weapon of mass destruction. He released the contents all over the nearest alien. “Out, with me!” He commanded. Harriet edged around the room cautiously, blind relief painted across her face. The Doctor gave her a quizzical look. “Who’s she?”

Immediately the older women reached for her ID, “Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North.” She was like one of those dolls with a big squishy button in the middle that when you press it repeats the same sentence over and over.

The Doctor glanced at her, “Always with the strays.” She shrugged at him. He shook the extinguisher, smiling sheepishly indicating it was now empty. With a sigh, Rose followed both the Doctor and Harriet Jones into the corridor.

“We need to head to the Cabinet Room.” The Doctor decided Harriet nodded in agreement.

“The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens.”

He seemed more impressed than his original assessment of her, “Harriet Jones, I like you.”

She blushed, “And I like you too.”

Rolling her eyes Rose shoved the Doctor out of the door, “More running less flirting.”  He spluttered indignantly at her accusation.

0o0o0o0o

After a lot of bickering and some close calls with long reaching claws and brick walls, they all managed to reach the cabinet room. The Doctor swiped a decanter from a small side table and made for the doorway. With one hand braced on the doorway, he waved the decanter dangerously close to one of the aliens who couldn’t quite bring themselves to enter the room. There was something powerfully confident in the way that the Doctor held himself, it seemed laughable that any being could question him.

“One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Woof, we all go up. So back off.” He shook the decanter menacingly causing the two closest to the front to skitter backward. The larger one cuffed them on the head disapprovingly.

It was only on closer inspection that Rose picked up how weary the man looked. The creases around his eyes were more pronounced. There was something hardened in the way he stared the aliens down. Rose could only speculate that he’d witnessed something horrible that the aliens were responsible for. Probably murder, which normally warranted the same icy fury. Not that Rose knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of those looks, nor did she ever want to.

“Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?” He asked.

“They're aliens.” Harriet murmured from behind.

“Yes. I got that, thanks.” The Doctor responded sarcastically.

One of the Slitheen tilted its head, analyzing the Doctor cautiously. “Who are you, if not human?”

“Who's not human?” Harriet asked.

Rose jerked her head in the Doctor’s direction, receiving a strangled noise in response. “What do you mean he’s not human?”

The Doctor sighed angrily, “Whilst this is all fascinating I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“Sorry.” Harriet stared down at her shoes before frowning her mouth opened about to ask another question. Rose shook her head silently.

“So, what’s the plan?” He continued.

“But he's got a Northern accent.” Harriet burst out.

“Lots of planets have a north.” Rose couldn’t help but parrot.

 This time the Doctor glared at her too, to which she smirked, temporarily forgetting the imminent danger through the doorway. One of the Slitheen cleared their throat noisily as if they were offended over being ignored.

“You’ve got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?”

The Slitheen on the right snorted loudly. “Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?”

“Fashion advice?” Rose quipped, amused by their outraged protests.

With a long-suffering look, the Doctor once again attempted to drag common sense back into the conversation. “Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?”

“The Slitheen race?” He sniggered.

His friend replied. “Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service.”

“So, you're family.” The Doctor nodded, gears already turning away in his head.

“A family business.” One Slitheen added.

The Doctor shifted his body so he was ever so slightly in front of Rose, he didn’t like the way the Slitheen were eyeing her. “Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a _God-forsaken rock_?” He threw their own phrase back at the jeeringly.

The Slitheen on the left was blinking eerily at the decanter. Not that Rose was an expert in Slitheen facial expression recognition but she assumed from the intent staring that the Slitheen had become a tad suspicious. “Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?” A note of disbelief in the alien’s voice.

The Doctor paused, shoulders stiffening. “Is that what I said?”

“You're making it up.” One of them crowed triumphantly raising an enormous clawed hand.

The Doctor shrugged. “Ah, well! Nice try.” He tossed the decanter behind him without looking. “ Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it.” Harriet scrabbled for the decanter.

“You pass it to the left first. “ She protested. The Doctor’s attention shifted away as Harriet handed her the decanter. Rose took a swig grimacing at the bitterness. _Possibly the end of the world but at least the British of their priorities in check._

“Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter.” One Slitheen proclaimed Rose suspected it was the formerly blonde one. She had been watching her like a rabid dog.

“If you have a plan, now would be the time to share it,” Rose stated. The Doctor squeezed her arm reassuringly.

“Fascinating history, Downing Street.” He began. “Two thousand years ago, this was marshland. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson.” He reached for a small panel near the door revealing a button. Upon pressing it metal shutters crashed down sealing the room off swiftly. The Doctor appeared rather pleased with himself, knocking on the metal plating; “Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in.”  
  
Rose pursed her lips, regarding the now sealed off windows. “One question, how exactly do we get out?”

He paused, confusion briefly clouding his face. “Ah.”  


0o0o0o0o

Upon exploring the room they found not only the deceased former Prime Minister but ID man as well. Rose wondered how long he’s managed to last by himself and felt a flicker of guilt. _Maybe if I insisted he went with us he’d still be alive._

“What was his name?” The Doctor asked quietly.

Harriet frowned, “Who?”

He gestured to the corpse, “This one. The secretary or whatever he was called.”

“I don't know. I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name.”

Rose made a soft humming sound as she waved her hand at the body of the Prime Minister. “Why not use this one as a disguise?”

The Doctor shook his head, “He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans.”

“Slitheen are massive. If they can squeeze all of that into a fat human you’d think they could fit inside a slimmer one.”

The Doctor walked across the room to the large oak table, “The device around their necks is a compression field. It has limited capabilities.” He tapped on the table, “That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange.”

Harriet was shadowing the pensive Timelord, all things considered, Rose thought she was handling the situation rather well. Better than she had. Although she supposed Harriet Jones probably didn’t need therapy for dreaming up this nightmare before it happened.

“Harriet Jones.” The Doctor muttered. “I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?”  
  
She gave a self-depreciative snort. “Oh, hardly.”

“Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?”

Truth be told Rose found the name fairly familiar as well.  Back when she was a gawky thirteen year old with braces she had had a brief interest in politics which carried on from a childhood fixation. Her mother had indulged her when she insisted she wanted to read the _grown-up papers_. Not that it came to anything. _Bloody Jimmy Stone._

“Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs.” Harriet replied morosely.

Rose pulled one of the chairs out; she rested her chin in her palm. She could feel another headache brewing.  “Don’t the protocols have defence codes?” Her head felt hazy for a moment as the wracked her brains for a solution. Any solution. “What about Torchwood?”

Harriet tilted her head curiously. “Torch-what?” Rose didn’t miss the way that the Doctor’s eyebrows furrowed.

Rose shook her head. _What the hell is Torchwood? Where did I get that from?_ “Never mind, ignore me.”

Harriet continued to watch her before contributing. “You may have been on to something with the defence codes. That would certainly do the trick. However, the release code for nuclear strikes is in the hands of the UN.”

“Say that again.” The Doctor said. Rose noted the change in volume.

Harriet tugged at the edges of her suit jacket absentmindedly. “What, about the codes?”

“Anything. All of it.”

Harriet continued to babble about the release codes but Rose was no longer paying attention.  Instead, her mind was focused on their opponent. _Slitheen._ Did that ring a bell? Rose wasn’t certain. The whole wide-eyed blinking whilst unnerving did seem familiar. Rose couldn’t remember if she had ever drawn one before in her journal. It did cross her mind that maybe she shouldn’t put too much faith in her drawings and hazy recollections of questionable origin. Even still, there had to be something there. Her hand went to her pocket tracing the spirals and curves of her fob watch.  
  
A loud buzzing sound from her pockets broke her concentration. “Oh, that's me.”

Harriet walked around so she hovered over her chair. It sent tingles down Rose's spine. She hated people looming over her. “But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?”

Rose smiled. “He zapped it. Superphone.”

“Then we can phone for help. You must have contacts.”

The Doctor sighed irritably, “Dead downstairs, yeah.”

Rose scowled when she read the caller ID. “It's Mickey.” _We really don’t have time for this._  
  
“Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy.”  He crossed his arms angrily. A reddish flush rose from the back of his neck. _I wonder why he’s so hostile about Mickey?_

“Huh, looks like he has a situation of his own.” She raised the phone to show a grainy image of a Slitheen.  She answered the phone. Only to be met with Mickey’s high pitched screeching. Rose wrenched the phone from her ear and placed it on the table on speaker.

“No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!” He wailed.

“I could’ve died.” Another familiar voice added. _Wonderful, Mum’s there too._

“Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer.” The Doctor demanded.

“It's Mickey, and why should I?”

“Perhaps antagonizing him isn’t the best course of action,” Rose suggested, the Doctor rolled his eyes at her.

“Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but,” He hesitated. “Er, I need you.” Rose snickered quietly at the vaguely constipated expression he was wearing.

0o0o0o0o

After having coaxed Mickey with various platitudes he had finally begun to hack the UNIT website. “It wants a password.” He called out.

The Doctor moved to sit in the seat next to Rose, closer to the phone on the table plugging it into the conference room’s main speaker. “Try Buffalo. Two Fs One L.”

“I know how to spell buffalo, thanks.” He responded sarcastically.

Harriet was playing with the top of the decanter, unwilling to sit down with them.

“So, what's that website?” Her mother asked.

“All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years.” A hint of pride coloured Mickey’s voice. “They just kept us in the dark.”

“Mickey, you were born in the dark.”

“That seems to be the general consensus for all humans.” Rose agreed, only to be met with another of those weirdly probing looks. She didn’t like the oddly knowing expression that crossed the Doctor’s face from time to time as if she were a puzzle he was trying to fit together.

The Doctor slapped the table loudly. He had a penchant for dramatics. “ Big Ben - why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?”

“You said to gather the experts, to kill them,” Harriet suggested.

He shook his head. “That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London.”

“The Slitheen introduced aliens to the world but they themselves are in hiding. Given their whole operation, they’ve been here, planning this for a while. Why alert the world to the presence of aliens, to begin with?” Rose pondered.

“Oh, listen to her.” Her mother complained.

“I don’t see you helping.” The Doctor defended her.

**“** Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind.” Rose inwardly winced at the self-righteous tone of voice. “Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter disappears off the face of the Earth.”

“The Doctor is only responsible for one of those.” Rose groaned.

“I'm talking to him. Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me.” Her mother took a deep breath, “Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?”

“I’m fine Mum, really.”

“Is she safe?” She repeated. “Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?” She was met with silence on the other end.  The Doctor had closed his eyes, a pained look stretched across his face, unwilling to respond. “Well, what's the answer?”

The uneasy silence was broken by Mickey, bless him. “I’m in.” Rose’s skin was beginning to crawl the overprotective affection pouring off of her desperate mother made her pulse quicken and her chest squeeze painfully. Displays of motherly affection always seemed strangely incongruent and yet her mother was always willing to be demonstrative.

“Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that.” The Doctor pressed on as if he hadn’t just ignored her mother’s begging.

The Doctor picked up the phone and began to analyse whatever Mickey had sent him. “It's some sort of message.” He fiddled with the phone some more. “It's on a loop, keeps repeating.”

There was a ringing noise in the background, like a doorbell. “That's not me. Go and see who that is.” She heard Mickey instruct her mother in the background.

**“** It's beaming out into space, who's it for?” The Doctor murmured.

Rose jumped when her mother started shrieking into the phone, “It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!”  
  
“They've found us.” Mickey’s voice cracked.

She watched the Doctor’s jaw tighten. “Mickey, I need that signal.”

Rose bit her lip. She wanted to tell her mother to get out of there but getting the signal was more important in the long run. _Since when did aliens become more important than your own family?_ Part of Rose whispered chidingly. “They need a way to fight it off!” She turned to the Doctor imploringly.

As if pulling himself from a stupor the Doctor jumped to his feet and began to pace, “If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from.” He seemed to be talking to himself more than anyone else in the room. “So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them?” He suddenly spun around to face them. “Information!” He demanded, causing Harriet to jump.

“They blink sideways.”

“Yep, narrows it down.” He responded

“Good sense of smell.” She added.

“Narrows it down.”

“I think they can smell adrenaline.”

“Narrows it down.” He continued.

“The pig technology,” Harriet added

Rose’s hand clenched around her watch, “The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine? “

“Narrows it down.”  Rose began to wonder whether he was going to contribute anything else to the conversation.

“It's getting in!” Mickey cried out.

“They hunt like it's a ritual.”

“Narrows it down.”

“Wait a minute.” Harriet raised her hands. “Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er.”

“Bad breath.” Rose didn’t like the way the Doctor beamed at Harriet, her lip curled involuntarily.

“Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!” The Doctor shouted excitedly.

Rose found it deeply concerning that she was more worried about being one-upped by Harriet Jones in front of the Doctor than her mother and boyfriend being in danger. She didn’t like looking inferior. Clenching her watch tightly in her hand she forcefully sought out any hint of a memory regarding the Slitheen. She was starting to feel dizzy from concentrating so hard, it was a good job she was still seated.

“Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium.” The Doctor babbled, crossing the room to stand in front of her. “What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet.”

There was this glow at the edge of Rose’s awareness, slightly out of reach, brilliant and golden. Her eyes were screwed shut as she pressed forward. She made contact. A single word resonated through her head. _Raxacoricofallapatorius._

“Raxacoricofallapatorius.”

There seemed to be an echo. Rose opened her eyes. The Doctor was staring at her blatantly, mouth slightly open in amazement. “How did you…”

“Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter.” Mickey called out, determined not to be forgotten.

It was only then that Rose realized that she had spoken out loud.  The Doctor was still staring at her, his attention unwillingly drawn away by Mickey. “Get into the kitchen.” He replied softly. There was something questioning in his eyes. Rose couldn’t begin to know the answers or even what questions he was silently asking.

Clearing his throat he managed to tear his eyes away from her. “Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!”

“Just like Hannibal!” Harriet exclaimed.

The Doctor shot the woman a small smile, “Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?”

Rose was utterly lost. She decided they probably weren’t discussing Hannibal Lecter the cannibal.

“How should I know?”  Mickey shouted back in frustration.

“It's your kitchen.”

“Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs.” Her mother chanted as she presumably added all of the items together.

“And you kiss this man?” The tone of levity in his voice didn’t match the deeply contemplative look on the Doctor’s face as he continued to shoot quizzical looks at her.

There was a loud, drawn-out sound. Rose could only speculate what state the Slitheen was in. This was followed by a moist sloshing noise. Rose cringed. “Hannibal?” She asked eventually.

“Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar,” Harriet responded, she appeared quite shell-shocked herself.

“Oh. Well, there you go then.” Rose held out the decanter to Harriet who gratefully accepted it.

0o0o0o0o0

“Listen to this.” Came Mickey’s voice after a moment, he brought the phone over to the TV showing a news report.  A familiar Slitheen was splashed across the screen in his human skin.

**“Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction** **c** **apable of being deployed within forty-five seconds.”**

“What?” The Doctor hissed.

**“Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long we are facing extinction unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mothership. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war.”**

**“** He's making it up.” The Doctor looked disgusted. “There’s no weapon up there, there's no threat. He just invented it.” He gestured to the ceiling.

“Do you think they'll believe him?” Harriet asked tentatively.

“They did last time.” Rose’s faith in the human race was dwindling rapidly.

“That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle.” The Doctor decided. “They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out.”

“They release the defence code.” Rose finished.

“And the Slitheen go nuclear.”

“But why?” Harriet whispered.

The Doctor strode over to the doorway and released the metal shutters. They were immediately greeted by the Slitheen, clad in their flesh-suits.

“You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. The whole planet gets nuked.” He clapped his hands together on the last word in emphasis.

 “And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away.” Trilled the fake blonde Slitheen.

Harriet had shakily made her way to the doorway with a determined look on her face. “But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?”

“Profit.” The Doctor spat. “That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert.”

“The sale of the century.” She chuckled. “We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price starliner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel.” 

“At the cost of five billion lives.” The Timelord looked lost as if unable to comprehend making such a decision.

“Bargain.” She smirked.

The Doctor seemed larger, it was the way he held himself, full of fury. It was like watching a storm gather slowly. Rose almost pitied the Slitheen. “I'll give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you.”

“What, you? Trapped in your box?” The blonde Slitheen sneered.

“Yes. Me.” With that the shutters came down again, cutting off the chortles of laughter on the other side.  


0o0o0o0o0

“So, any ideas?” Harriet asked eventually.

The Doctor turned to Rose. “Yes Rose, any ideas?”

Rose blinked. He looked almost accusing. “How should I know?”

A dark look passed over his face, “You seem to mysteriously know a lot of things.”

Rose picked at her thumbnail, averting her gaze. “If we could get out of here, we could use the defence codes.”

The Doctor tilted her chin up, his fingers warm against her skin. “Using the defence codes may be our only choice. There is no avenue of escape.”

Rose’s breathe came out quickly. It sounded as if he was planning on blowing the place up. Not that Rose was opposed to a bit of destruction now and then but this was really railing against every instinct she had geared towards self-preservation. “What other choice do we have?”

“None at all.” He admitted sadly.

“What are you talking about?” Her mother asked insistently. The Doctor released her, Rose rubbed a hand over her face self-consciously.

“He’s going to blow up the building. All of the Slitheen have gathered here, it’s the best place to strike.” Rose responded bluntly.

There was a wail on the other end of the phone. “Don’t you dare Doctor. Don’t you dare. That’s my little girl trapped in there with you. You can’t do this.”

“That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies.” He gazed at Rose sadly. Rose just wished he’d make his mind up whether he wanted to protect her or cast her outside with the Slitheen.

“I trust you.” She said firmly. Although her mind screamed in protest that there was no way in hell it would be a good idea to potentially sacrifice her life alongside the Doctor.

That same look of curiosity from earlier crossed his face. It was unnerving how often he stared into her eyes, icy blue delving into her own boring brown eyes. Whatever he was looking for he seemed to find it. “You really do.” Something that suspiciously sounded like awe coloured his voice. “You trust me.”

“Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid.” Her mother pleaded.

He turned to the phone. “Oh Jackie, she’s so much more than that. This life is dangerous, I won’t pretend it isn’t. But what it definitely is is Rose’s choice.”

“Well, what are you waiting for.” Rose tugged at his sleeve, with a weary smile.

“I could save the world but lose you.” His hands reached out for her, holding her too tightly. Not tightly enough.

Rose was hit with a wave of vertigo. _Since when was my life on par with the importance of an entire planet?_ If she asked him, she knew that somehow he’d find another way out for them, one that didn’t risk her life. One that could leave the planet ablaze behind them. She couldn’t quite identify the feeling it left her, something akin to glee perhaps? There was no way that that possibility should make her feel anything close to glee. She shuddered.

“Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine.” Declared Harriet.

**“** And who the hell are you?”  Jackie uttered rudely.

**“** Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it.” She announced it with as much authority as she could muster.

The Doctor continued to instruct Mickey until he found the correct Missile.

“Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A.”

“That's the one. Select.” The Doctor encouraged.

“I could stop you,” Jackie spoke quietly.

“Do it, then.” Rose suspected that Mickey wouldn’t be all that opposed to being stopped.

“You ready for this?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah,” Mickey confirmed.

**“** Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands.” After a long pause. “Fire!”

0o0o0o0

“How solid are these?” Harriet inquired. Gesturing to the metal plating.

“Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big.”

Rose let out a whistle, “Well, I don’t fancy dying today.”

“You have a better idea.” The Doctor looked skeptical.

Rose wandered over to the cupboards, “During earthquakes, you’re supposed to stand under door frames, these seem sturdy enough.” She looked back at the Doctor and Harriet. “Or we could just stand around and wait to be hit by a missile.”

The Doctor flashed her a bright smile. “Right then, let’s get to work.”

**“** It's on radar.” Mickey called out.

“Here we go. Nice knowing you both.” Harriet dithered outside of the cupboard. “To Hannibal!”

Rose climbed inside a cupboard, the Doctor followed after her. The Door shut tight with a click. It was dark and cramped. The Doctor’s back was braced against one of the cupboard walls. He reached out to hold on to her as if shielding her with his body within the cupboard would offer another layer of protection. Rose allowed herself to be maneuvered into another position, her fingers curled into his leather jacket as she concentrated on breathing calmly.

“In Cardiff…” He trailed off.

“In Cardiff.” She prompted. His mouth was so close to her ear, his breath tickling her.

“You said you didn’t think you were always a good person.” Rose’s grip on him tightened. “What you’re doing now is good; it’s brave and probably stupid.” He laughed softly. “There are things about you I don’t understand. I don’t know if I will get a chance to understand them. If I don’t get another chance to tell you. I just want you to know, you are a good person Rose.”

Rose didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer. Her tongue felt like lead, her throat was so dry. Warmth bloomed in her chest. She wished it could be that easy, she wished helping people could alleviate that nagging at the back of her mind, urging her to leave everyone for dead and save herself. Maybe she was just a coward at heart. Maybe she could be brave if the Doctor thought she was.

There was a loud splintering sound as ruble ricocheted off the walls. Metal groaned and twisted and the cupboard they were hiding in jerked and toppled over. She crashed into the Doctor who continued to grip her tightly. He whispered assurances into her ear as he held her through the chaos. At long last there was silence.

After a lot of turbulence, they made it out of the remains of Ten Downing Street relatively unscathed. Harriet was marching across the street waving her ID around as if she owned the place. She returned to them face flushed with happiness.

“Oh, Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister.” _Because that’s your priority after you come face to face with aliens._

“Maybe you should have a go.” The Doctor suggested.

Harriet laughed, “I’m only a back-bencher.”

Rose frowned. She supposed that Harriet had proven herself adaptable and capable in a crisis. Although she wasn’t sure that Harriet had what it takes to be the Prime Minister, she seemed too straight-laced and willing to follow orders. Rose began to drift off into a daydream. _Now if I was Prime Minister…_

“Still with me?” he Doctor nudged her.

“Mhhm hmm.” Rose had just decided that she would cancel Tuesdays, no one likes Tuesdays.

“I thought I knew the name.” The points at Harriet who was greeting the crowd, “Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age.”

Rose was definitely not jealous. Not one bit.

0o0o0o0o

Her mother was being impossible. After returning Rose to her mother’s flat the Doctor had grinned and proclaimed “Rather you than me.” And left her in the capable hands of mother dearest.  She had been mother-henning relentlessly, bragging to the neighbors about her heroic deeds.  She was in fact rather heroic she admits.

Rose was using this opportunity to pack up her belongings as stealthily as possible. Her mother as of yet was in denial about her leaving. She chattered on about dinner and how she grudgingly accepted the Doctor.

“There's no getting rid of him since you're infatuated.”

Rose jerked violently, smacking the back of her head against the underside of her bed where she was valiantly attempting to retrieve a stray sock. “I beg your pardon.”

Her mother looked at her pityingly. “You have this glow about you, this new determination. Whatever he is to you I don’t like it. Last time you ran off with a bloke you ended up battered and penniless.”

She gritted her teeth, “He’s nothing like Jimmy.”

“I didn’t say he was.” Jackie hugged her tightly. “I’m scared sweetheart. Since that man walked into your life, it’s like you’ve been a different person. I’m worried that all this monster stuff is going to set your nightmares off again. You remember what Dr. Smith said.”

“I’m fine.” Rose lied. “There haven’t been any dreams. I don’t need your help”

“If you say so.”

 

Rose’s phone started ringing. _Saved by the bell._

“Right, I'll be a couple of hours, and then we can go.”

“Thank God.” Rose let out a sigh of relief.

The Doctor chuckled, “I take it you haven’t changed your mind then.”

“Mum’s driving me around the bend. I think she wants to invite you to family dinner.”

“I’ll pass.” He responded shortly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She paused, “I don’t think she’ll take it well when we leave again. I don’t know, maybe I should spend some more time with her.”

Rose could hear the soft whirr of the TARDIS on the other end, “You could…or, there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula. Fires are burning ten million miles wide.” He spoke passionately, his words bringing the image to life in her mind. “I could fly the TARDIS right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out. Hurtle right across the sky and end up anywhere.”  She could almost hear his teasing smile on the other end of the phone. “Your choice.”

“You don’t play fair.” She scolded. Rose hung up at the sound of his laughter.

0o0o0o0o

She hadn’t lasted hours. Her mother was giving her sad beseeching looks. It was hurting both of them. Rose hated herself for telling her Mum that she didn’t need her, she had looked so betrayed but there was no way she would let her go if she had offered her false hope of her returning regularly. Rose pretended she couldn’t hear her crying as she carted a massive rucksack out of the door.

The Doctor had been surprised by all of her luggage. “Got enough stuff?”

“Hmm, I suppose I could get another suitcase or two.” He rolled his eyes. “Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment. Now I'm signing up. You're stuck with me.” She poked him in the middle of his chest.

“By all means, don’t let me stop you.”

Rose turned to find Mickey, hovering around the doorway glaring at the pair of them bitterly. “Mickey, don’t be like that.”

His face screwed up angrily and his hands clenched into fists. “You’re so selfish. Do you have any idea how much you’re leaving behind.”

“You mean you,” Rose remarked. The Doctor looked vaguely panicked at the prospect of a domestic and disappeared into the TARDIS. “You could come too.” She offered half-heartedly.

Mickey snorted, “I want things to go back to the way they were. Just come home.”

“I can’t.”

“You mean you don’t want to.”

“Yes.”

Mickey swallowed. “You know, when your Mum was screaming on the phone when we were being attacked not once did you try to reassure her. Too busy saving the world. Too busy with your Doctor being clever.”

“It wasn’t like that.” She protested.

“Yeah, it was. In spite of it all, your absence, plain up forgetting me, well…I still love you.” Mickey turned his back on her. “And you still can’t say it back.”

Rose let him close the door. She let him walk away. After all, she had done the same.

Rose reached for her watch, the weight in her pocket felt reassuring. _I don’t need them. Not Mum, not Mickey._ Warmth flooded her mind, it felt like acceptance, agreement.   _Great, I’m agreeing with myself. Very sane._ The TARDIS let out a harsh trill, it rang in her head like a warning.

Rose found the Doctor waiting outside of what she had claimed as her room. He was leaning against the door with a conflicted expression on his face. The expression didn’t clear when he caught sight of her.

“Ah, Rose. I think it’s time we had a chat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh Oh. I wonder what their chat will be about.


End file.
